


Redemption

by noblecrescent



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Angst, Childhood Friends, Drama, Drama and Romance, Established Relationship, Eventual Romance, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Friendship, Metahumans, Mystery, Past Relationship(s), Platonic Relationships, Romance, Sorceresses, Waverider - Freeform, the jinx
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:27:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 24,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27755356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noblecrescent/pseuds/noblecrescent
Summary: Graciela Haynez made her peace when Rip Hunter walked out of her life—she was at the top of the chain reigning as the infamous Jinx after all. Years later when Rip disappears, the Legends bring Graciela to the Waverider to find him thanks to a letter the Captain himself wrote asking for her presence. Graciela knows that the letter was written in a time before everything fell out between them but it’s urgent to find Rip before the Legion does. Graciela wants to believe she's become a better version of herself but as she leads the Legends & fights the Legion, she finds herself questioned. Is she still the Jinx—a mantle that has passed down from generation to generation with the promise to keep the fear instilled in others—or has the mantle die with her when she decided to switch sides?
Relationships: Rip Hunter/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to my first OC for the Legends fandom! This will eventually be an OCxRip story and it will cover the entire second season of Legends of Tomorrow, choosing scenes I deem important in order to tell the story. A note: for this story, I am choosing to omit some arcs!
> 
> The OC introduced will look like the actress Keira Knightley with shoulder-length curly brown hair and dark brown eyes.
> 
> While the OC takes the name of "Jinx", a canon villain in the DC world, she will be portrayed as a descendant and not the actual original villain. It'll be better explained in the next chapter.

"Fall back!" A tall woman with short, rather stringy, brown hair ordered a group of resistance fighters behind her. She thrust a hand forwards, releasing purple beams that caused several of the street poles to come crashing down from their spots. With (bad) _luck_ , they would fall on their enemies. "Take to hiding! Retreat!" Her voice reverberated over the gunshots being fired their way. "HIDE!"

She took hiding behind a thick green bush. Squatting, she dared to only poke her head to the side to see if she had been followed by anyone.

Unfortunately, she didn't account for _time_ _travelers_ to sneak up on her from behind. Someone delivered a well-blown hit on the back of her head, sending her to the ground completely unconscious.

By the time the woman came-to, she had been locked away in some glass prison inside a bigger room. She sat upright and found herself sitting on a metal bench. Her coat had been stripped from her, revealing a distinguishable purple and black super-suit clothing underneath. The moment she had a clear view of her new environment, she saw she was not alone.

A group of six stood in a perfect line on the other side of the prison. The woman's brown eyes examined these new people and easily deduced — from their clothing — that they were not from the same time. They couldn't be from the 2166.

"What do time travelers want with me?" She made her first words and revealed herself to be an English woman. Her head tilted from one side to the other as she continued studying them. " _Again_?"

"Again?" went the blonde woman of the group.

"We don't mean to harm you," a dark-haired man spoke up. He stepped closer but when the brunette shot up he backtracked that step.

"If you meant that, then you wouldn't have locked me in this…" the woman had come up to the wall facing the team, palms taking note of the material of the walls, "...prison. To be exact, you would not have attacked me at all."

"We didn't attack…" the blonde woman corrected.

"When I want to attack someone, I hit them," the brunette said, "Preferably hard. Is that not what you did?"

"Look we're here on peaceful terms," a dark-skinned man said next. "We didn't mean to but you we just...didn't know how to get your attention without you wanting to blow us up like you did to those other guys — how exactly do you do that by the way?"

"Jefferson," scolded an elder man standing beside him. The brunette just smirked.

"You should just be happy all we did was give you a light pat on the back," spoke another man, a taller and more built-up man.

The woman raised her eyebrow. "I should be thankful you locked me up? I doubt you're the police. I've met them and they're not you."

"We're sort of like them," the blonde woman gave a crooked smile. "But you were out there fighting and no doubt killing. You question us?"

"I question your motives, not your tactics," the brunette woman corrected. "Last time I checked, time travelers should want nothing to do with a rebellion fighter. Explain yourselves."

The team took her natural order with mild surprise and amusement. The last man, who had yet to speak, one with dark brown hair cleared his throat and pulled out a folded letter from his pocket.

"It's because of this," he held it for the woman to see. "It was written for a Graciela Haynez...you. We had to contact you and the ship sort of led us to you. Right, Gideon?"

The woman, Graciela, blinked and immediately looked up at the ceiling much like the others did when they spoke to the ship's A.I system. "Gideon?" she repeated.

"Good to see you again, Miss Haynez," Gideon dutifully responded, surprising the others with the familiarity the A.I seemed to have towards the woman and vice versa.

"Of course," Graciela mumbled and got to reading the letter the man was holding against the glass for her to read.

The blonde woman had been carefully watching Graciela for her reactions and concluded with ease they had the right woman. "You know who wrote the letter?"

"Know him? I was _there_ when he wrote it," Graciela's emotionless voice had finally faded a little. Her eyes were glued to the worn out letter. "Where is he?"

The blonde looked at the rest of her teammates, getting the encouragement to go on, and began to explain. "My name's Sara Lance, and these are the members that your friend, Rip Hunter, collected months back. That's Ray, Mick, Jax, Professor Stein and the temporary newbie, Nate. He helped us find you."

"I don't thank you," Graciela was quick to tell him. Nate blinked with surprise but Sara went right to business.

"Here's the deal. There was an accident and Rip sent us all to different time periods to save us. When Nate here helped rescue us, we realized Rip was nowhere in the timeline - or at least we couldn't find him in the scans."

"So you found the letter that asks me to lead you all," Graciela remembered perfectly the content of that letter Rip himself wrote. Her eyes flickered to Nate again. "I really don't thank you."

"Got that," he cleared his throat.

"We don't know who you are so we put you in here, excuse us," Sara shrugged, really looking like she didn't care what Graciela felt about this. "Rip had trust in you but I wonder if you trust us?"

There was a sadistic smile on Graciela's face that put everyone on edge. "Trust a group that imprisoned me and continues to imprison me? I'm not the only one who knows what's wrong with that sentence am I?"

The others looked at each other silently, pretty much agreeing what she said was true. If they wanted to trust her, she needed to trust them as well. Taking the step up, Sara walked up to the cell and activated the release code. Graciela locked eyes with her as the doors began to open for her.

"Interesting," Graciela quirked a half smile and stepped just outside the cell. She tilted her head and moved eyes across the Legends. "You must be _that_ desperate."

"We let you go, might as well be a little nicer," Sara mumbled and started heading out, prompting the others to do the same.

Graciela made an amused expression before swaying her way after the team. None of them saw it fade away the moment she stepped into the corridors and took notice of the familiar hallways. Her demeanor changed into that of dark glumness. It didn't change when she walked into the main room of the ship, the bridge, and she eyed all of its features.

"I take it you're all responsible for the destruction of the Time Masters' organization?" Graciela asked with hints of amusement no one could understand. Seeing their strange looks, she added, "I wasn't a big fan of them and they weren't huge fans of my work either."

"You knew about them?" Stein inquired. Graciela nodded. "I thought they were on a strict need-to-know-basis."

"I knew Rip before he went into their training as well as another friend there... _and_ I may have been arrested by them for some unauthorized time traveling I did a year ago."

"What do you mean?" Jax raised an eyebrow at her. Her revelation put all of the Legends on edge. Exactly who did Rip want them to find!?

"The Time Masters backed my city's previous dictator in his, uh, experiments towards the undesirable," Graciela brought her fingers up to make air quotation marks. "The scum of the cities, the criminals — like me. I decided that I didn't like the way things were going and since neither Rip nor our other friend, Kai, could do anything about it, I decided to take matters into my own hands. It didn't end well...clearly." She gestured to herself.

"What kind of experiments did they do?" Ray asked.

"The kind where they take people and you never see them again," she answered bluntly.

"Okay," Sara called them to order. She was standing by the prime computer, waiting for everyone to listen. Graciela turned to the blonde, not quite liking the style in which she was being treated. "Look, we called you in—"

Graciela clicked her tongue and waggled a finger at Sara. "No, we established you did not ' _call me_ '."

Sara conceded and continued. "We found the letter..." She motioned Ray to do something and before Graciela knew it, Ray was holding out the worn out, yellowish, folded letter. Graciela looked like she would rather hold lava rocks than the letter as she took it from Ray. She did not unfold it, however. "There was an incident in one of our travels," Sara began again. "And...while we're all together again, we can't find Rip anywhere. We need you to help us find him...and in the meantime be the Captain of the Waverider."

"And if I say no?"

Sara really did not like the woman's challenging attitude but, for the sake of their team, she let it go. "We would really appreciate it if you did. Rip would have appreciated it too."

"No, he wouldn't have," Graciela looked around the room with a type of glumness that the others noticed. "Believe me."

"Why wouldn't he?" Stein frowned. "He wrote the letter asking us to find—"

"I know what the letter said," Graciela cut him off with a loud voice, startling them. "When Rip wrote that letter it was a very different time, alright? We were young and stupid and a _lot_ of time has passed by since then. Things _changed_." Her voice hardened with clear feelings. "Truth is, I haven't seen Rip in years."

"So you had problems, big deal," Sara said rather blankly. "If Rip wanted to, he would have destroyed the letter and maybe written another one, but he didn't—"

"You don't know that," Graciela pointed at her.

"No, but it's sort of all we have and we're taking it. Whatever happened should be forgotten when he's gone missing. You're all that's left for him, alright? He lost his wife and his son, so if you're the one that can help us find him, then you're coming."

Graciela was left dumbfounded by Sara's words. Had she just said that Rip lost...? "He what?" She swallowed hard. "He lost Miranda and Jonah?" She didn't wait for Sara to answer and instead looked at the others for their expressions. It seemed like only Nate was clear of any feelings. "Oh my God."

Sara felt for the woman's shock but they couldn't waste time. Rip was gone and possibly in danger. They needed to work fast. "Look, we need guidance right now, and most of all we need someone who understands the logic of all this timeline crap."

Graciela sighed, looking and feeling frustrated. "You don't understand — he wouldn't want me here!"

"But he's not here!" Sara snapped. "So get over that. We—" she motioned to the team, "—need you."

"You don't get it, I am the _worst_ candidate to lead a _time traveling_ team. I don't follow all the stupid time line crap that comes with the job."

Jax chuckled. "Then I think you're the perfect Captain."

Graciela briefly smiled for his words. She looked around the bridge and, to her aching heart, everything remained the same as the last time she was on-board. "Gideon," she called the A.I. softly.

"Yes, Miss Haynez?"

"Is he in danger?"

"I am not certain but if I may say, he _chose_ not to get rid of the letter."

Graciela's eyes lowered. That certainly boosted her mood but she was quick to squash it down with the reminder of the reasons they were no longer amicable with each other. Still, if Rip was in danger and something happened to him she would never forgive herself. She would just have to start with the team he supposedly put together. If they were good enough on their own, she would handle them from afar — checking in every now and then — until Rip was back. "A trial," she settled. "24 hours to see what you are and what you can do. If I see, in all honesty, that you don't need me, I get to leave _but_ —" she was quick to say when she saw Sara opening her mouth, "—I would still help you from afar. Believe me, if I don't have to be on this ship then I won't be. But I will always try to help Rip if he needs it."

Sara nodded her head. "Fine."

Graciela's lips stretched into a smile. "You're trial starts _now."_

Sara rolled her eyes and moved around the computer table to bring up the newest aberration. She did, though, notice Graciela stroking Rip's letter in her hands. The brunette was lost in some thoughts until Mick's gruff voice pulled her out from it.

"1942, why does it always have to be 1942?" Mick wondered out loud after looking into the newest aberration.

"Maybe we should stop trying that year." Even Jax had to agree with Mick on that one. Considering it was the place where they lost Rip and nearly died themselves, the year was left pretty tarnished for them.

"We gotta go back," Sara shrugged, not having a second doubt about it.

"Graciela!" Ray quickly called, startling the woman across them. She turned around with half-widened eyes. "Looks like you get to observe us quicker than you thought. How do you feel about 1942?"

The expression on Graciela's face was unreadable.

~ 0 ~

The year of the 40s was never a popular one in history and as the team now strode down a street, Graciela figured she could've done without meeting it. "What exactly were we here for?" she asked Sara as the two waited outside a symposium while the rest of the team was scattered around the building.

"Just a quick change in history," Sara shrugged. "Nothing big." She glanced at the brunette with a smirk, "Sorry for no real observation this time."

"You know, I don't know how you expect me to actually lead this team if none of you like me. I don't think it was the same story with Rip, was it?"

"Nah," Sara swayed her head as she tried remembering their early days on the Waverider, "Well, we did punch him sometimes…"

"Do that to me and I promise you it'll be the last story you ever tell," Graciela darkly warned her, but Sara responded with a wide smirk.

"Don't do what Rip did then."

Eventually the team regrouped outside the symposium where, apparently, they had finished altering time just a smidge with Albert Einstein.

"What do you guys say we get outta 1942?" Sara asked them while already making way for the Waverider. However, the sound of a gun cocking made them stop and look back.

A different team assembled by peculiar people had gathered outside, all apparently against the Legends.

"Not until you answer a few questions," one of the team, a man, warned.

"We're the Justice Society of America," a dark-skinned woman stepped forwards, "And you're coming with us."

"Oh, my God," Nate sucked in a breath at the sight of a middle-aged man dress mostly in blue, red and white, "You're Commander Steel."

"Whoa, whoa. Just relax. We're all friends here," Ray stepped forwards with his hands raised.

Jax also shared the same innocence as Ray. "Rex Tyler told us about the JSA. You guys are awesome. Hey. The name's Jax."

The same man Nate had directed words to responded. "Rex never mentioned any of you. Mind telling us what you were doing impersonating OSS agents?"

Graciela was eyeing the opposing team's statute and easily saw this going wrong if this team — the Legends apparently — didn't know how to fight well.

"It's quite simple, actually. We were protecting Albert Einstein from Nazi agents who were attempting to kidnap him and force him to build an atomic bomb in the future," Stein explained. "Time travel. It's... it's hard to explain."

"You can take all the time you need. In custody," the dark-skinned woman smiled sarcastically.

Nate tried to interject as he moved towards Commander Steel. "Whoa, take it easy. Let's talk for a minute. I mean, after all, you're my-" but he was easily punched to the ground.

Graciela slapped a hand across her forehead as the Legends jumped straight into action to fight. "Don't fight, you idiots!" she screamed but, of course, no one listened to her. She barely had time to react when a man dressed in near all black jumped in front of her. Immediately she tried throwing in some punches but the man proved to be more smoke than anything else.

"What the—" she was punched across the face and knocked flat on her back.

"Obsidian, shut off the lights!" the man named Steel ordered from afar.

Graciela's attacker, Obsidian, obeyed and with a golden staff had smoke cover the area, turning everything dark. The only source of light came from Firestorm who was still flying in the air avoiding the star-spangled woman repeatedly firing at them with her own staff.

Graciela raised her head, feeling it groggy but still able to see what was happening. What she saw was disaster from her 'team'. Before they knew it, each one had been brought down by their opponent.

~ 0 ~

"You just had to mention time travel, didn't you?" Sara glumly asked from inside the large cage they had all been pushed into.

"Yeah, well, at least he didn't throw the first punch," Ray said from his side of the cage.

"I'm perfectly capable of defending myself, Raymond," Stein shot him a look, although he missed the one Sara threw him afterwards.

"I'm pretty sure that you got knocked out by a teenager in a star-spangled leotard."

"Her name's Stargirl," Nate informed her, not that anyone really cared.

"Did anybody catch her regular-person name?" Jax not-so-discreetly inquired.

"I'm surprised you didn't ask for her number," Graciela rolled her eyes. "I see the whole 'men' thing never really changed throughout time."

"Oh, so it's my fault that we got our asses handed to us?"

"No," Graciela said plainly before clarifying it completely, "It's _all_ of your faults." She threw looks at each and everyone of the team.

"Excuse me?" Sara raised an eyebrow, making a threatening advance on her.

"You asked me to observe and this is something I observed," Graciela reminded her. "You're all uncoordinated because you're doing your own things. Honestly, how did Rip ever control you?"

"Badly if you asked me," Mick mumbled.

"You guys, just listen to me for two…" Nate tried cutting in but Mick cut him out.

"Pretty, shut up. If I recall, you were late coming to the party."

"All of you need to shut up!" Graciela raised her voice to get her own words in. "This was a ten minute trip into 1942 and look where we are? I can't imagine what a day of travel would consist for you!"

"We've never been tracked before like this," Ray tried to make themselves look better in front of the woman.

"It's because they're the Justice Society of America, the single greatest secret force this country has ever known," Nate finally got his comment in.

Sara turned on him, arms crossed. "If it's so secret, how do you know about them?"

"Because his Nazi handlers have briefed him, no doubt," Commander Steel walked into the room along with the dark-skinned woman.

Nate sighed at the accusation. "Look, I'm not a Nazi. I'm a historian."

"Here we go with the time travel nonsense again," mumbled the woman.

Nate scowled at her and, like to end all doubts, recited, "070233."

The simple set of numbers attracted the attention of Commander Steel. "What?"

"Those are numbers on your dog tags. They're not disclosed on any documents, military or otherwise."

"How do you know that?"

"You gave these to your wife after the birth of your son in 1955. The dent in the front was from an assassin's bullet when you saved President Roosevelt in 1939. Your son passed them down to his son, me."

There was an awkward silence following the next minutes, and suddenly Commander Steel ordered the woman with him to do something in a low mumble. Shooting them a look, the woman went off to do whatever had been asked of her.

"You're opening the door," Graciela leaned off the bars of the cage once the man proceeded to unlock the cage door. "That's a good sign." She then sent a look at Nate. "You should have spoken up before, moron."

The team of Legends were led out of the cage and down a hallway. No one uttered a word until they reached another room equipped with various machines of the period. The rest of the JSA stood there waiting for them with one particular man in front.

"Mr. Tyler," Stein recognized.

Jax relaxed then, thinking it was all going to get better. "See? Rex Tyler. Told you we knew the guy."

However, Rex remained in the dark. "I don't know you. Any of you. Tell me what the heck is going on here."

Sara sighed, moving forwards to explain. "Well, we tried explaining…"

But Rex cut her off. "I'm sorry, ma'am, I was addressing the team leader," he gestured for Stein.

The elder man was surprised by the confusion but nonetheless went on to explain. "Uh...uh... oh. Oh, well, simply put, we've come here as time travelers to identify aberrations in history and correct them."

"We're superheroes, like you guys," Ray simplified but earned himself a very mocking laugh from Stargirl.

"You think you're just like us?"

"Listen _leotard_ ," Graciela then took a step towards her, "This team tries to make history continue as it should be for both past and future. Yours will be lucky to take care of the world for only about thirty more years so if I were you, I'd button up that mouth of yours." Behind Graciela, there were several affectionate smirks in regards to her words. They were beginning to see for real now why Rip would choose her to lead the team in his absence. "They protect history," she finished.

"It's pretty important. In the future, you risk your own life to save us, Mr. Tyler," Stein once again tried to explain.

"How do you know my name?"

Jax groaned. "Because you told us your name in 2016. You sent our ship down and told us not to come to 1942 before you disappeared."

Rex leaned back to his other team members and mumbled. "You might've been onto something with the Bellevue idea."

A phone ringing interrupted the conversation. It turned out to be the president of the time, FDR, who needed the JSA to help.

"All right, we have to move out. Baron Krieger's been spotted in Paris," Rex informed the rest of his team.

"If it's permissible, sir, I'll fly ahead and record Krieger's movements," the dark-skinned woman offered.

"Sensible, as always."

"We could help you out with that. Fighting Nazis is kind of our thing," Jax also offered but had less results.

"Yeah. Last time we tried, we ended up at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean," Mick reminded.

"We can handle Adolf's buddies," Rex assured. "I think it's best for the 20th Century if…"

"For us to leave it?" Stein asked with discreet hope.

"And that's why you're team leader."

"Well, I guess we'll be on our way, then…" Stein looked at his team members urging them to quickly leave before someone changed their minds.

~0~

"Well that was a disaster," Graciela was the first to speak after entering the ship. "Was there supposed to be something else to see? You know, something that might make it alright to leave you without supervision?" Because now she wasn't so sure that leaving them on their own would guarantee a quick and safe return for Rip.

Even though mostly everyone wanted to snap back at her, no one could come up with a reason that would defend them. Graciela was far too irritated to continue being in the same room. She left without another word.

"I've never met such an uncoordinated team in my life, and that's saying something," she was muttering to herself as she strode down the corridor. She came to a brief stop in order to calm herself and remind herself why she was there in the first place.

After taking her moment - actually several moments - she made way back to the main room only to find everyone else gone. She did spy, however, someone in the side room and went in to find Nate checking out photographs on a computer screen.

"Did everybody go plan how to throw me out the ship?" Graciela made her entrance with mild humor.

Nate smiled at her but kept looking at the screen. "I actually thought you made a good point back there."

"Then why didn't you say anything? I could've used the numbers," Graciela leaned on the threshold. "I'm, uh, not exactly all that like-able if you haven't noticed."

"I'm not technically part of their team either, so…" Nate put a finger to his mouth.

"Well technically neither am I - means I like you just a bit more than the others right now," Graciela then thought for a moment before adding, "And maybe Ray too." She studied the content on the screen for real and hummed. "The actual JSA. In my time, they were known as legends or myths...who would've thought they were actually real." Nate raised one hand silently. "Right," Graciela laughed. "Well, they're a very good functioning team based from what I saw. They were precise, professional, in constant agreement...everything a team needs to be in order to win their opponent."

"You seem to know a lot about teams and leading," Nate remarked off-handedly, "Care to give me a little insight?"

Graciela pursed her lips and looked straight ahead, this case finding the screen again, with her hands on her hips. "So, this is Grandpa then?" she changed the subject calmly.

Although seeing her tactic, Nate went along with it, figuring she wasn't ready to disclose her personal life. "Yeah. Pictures of him are hard to find. You just got to know where to look."

Graciela studied the photograph of a soldier fighting off another solder - the grandfather - and smiled. "I can't imagine what it must be like meeting your ancestor, must have been something?"

"You would think so, right? But... I don't know. Felt empty somehow."

"You have to understand from your grandfather's perspective," Graciela turned to face him. "You just basically dumped his entire future on him. Might be a little shell-shocked."

"Yeah…"

"Just out of curiosity, what are _you_ in this team?"

That question caught Nate off guard for a minute. "Um, well...like I said...I'm not exactly part of the team—"

"But what are you?" asked Graciela again, now more curious. "From what I got, Sara and Mick are criminals, um Jax and professor Stein are like...a burning man, Ray says he's got a suit somewhere...and you?"

"A historian," Nate answered with a wide smile that spelled out his embarrassment. "I actually helped rescue the team after Captain Hunter's accident."

"Ah, so then you do have value," Graciela playfully patted his arm. "I'll be sure to remember that if I do end up leading this team."

"You'd want me around?" Nate made a face, apparently surprised by this news.

"Girl who didn't really pay attention in history class," Graciela pointed at herself for a moment then pointed at him, "Actually, I never went to school so a Historian would be a perfect asset."

Nate glossed over the part of her missing school solely because they were brand new strangers. She didn't seem like the uneducated type because she certainly projected an air of knowledge. "Right," he nodded, and, by chance, reached for his neck only to realize his dog tags weren't there.

"What is it?" Graciela immediately noticed his nervousness.

"My grandfather's dog tags. They aren't around my neck."

"So?"

"So I haven't taken 'em off since I was a kid. They were here a minute ago, and now they've...vanished."

It didn't take two and two to know where they probably were. Nate rushed to the table where he had set his journal down.

"I get the feeling history is about to change…" Graciela slowly followed him to look at the journal as well.

"I'm reviewing my notes on the JSA and we have to go back to 1942."

"Um, Nate, the JSA was pretty explicit on us not going back to 1942."

"That mission the JSA went on to track down Baron Krieger in Paris, they're all gonna die there tomorrow."

And, of course, with that idea implanted, it was impossible to just leave things like that.

~ 0 ~

After careful consideration of how to infiltrate the JSA's mission, they settled for an easy poser plan. Stein was to play a favorite singer of Krieger - Max Lorenz - while the rest of the Legends scattered about in the underground speakeasy.

"No sign of Krieger or the JSA," Sara informed through the team's earpod system.

"Canvass the area and stay on the comms," Graciela then advised from another spot in the place.

"Think I got something," reported Ray as he spotted the dark-skinned woman in a fancy red dress, dancing with a man, "The lady with the animal powers. But she looks different."

"You mean hot," Jax corrected.

Ray rolled his eyes and made his way up to the woman. "May I?"

The woman frowned as her dancing partner walked away. "What are you doing? I'm on a covert mission."

Ray discreetly spoke as the two began a normal dance. "Not for long. You and your team are all 24 hours away from being killed."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm a time traveler, remember? Something changes in the future, and you all die."

"But if we do, how do you know it's not because of your team?"

Ray looked to the side as he considered that idea. "Hadn't thought of that." Without another word, he took her hand and led her back to the others. "Look who I found, and she's thrilled we've offered our help."

A middle-aged man walked up to Stein, along with another man at his side. "Herr Lorenz, I must introduce you to General Gerd von Rundstedt. He's a huge fan."

Stein cleared his throat, nervously answering, "Oh, lovely to meet you, General."

The other man, Gerd, eyed him suspiciously. "You are Max Lorenz? Lorenz is well over 6 feet tall."

"Ah. My towering voice often causes people to overestimate my height."

"Perhaps you will treat us to a song, Mr. Lorenz?"

Sara stepped in and moved to Stein's side. "Maxie has a concert tomorrow night and needs to rest his pipes."

"I insist, Fraulein. And, uh, please-" Gerd threw a look towards Jax, "-no Negro music."

As he walked away with the other man, Jax nearly lunged for him, "I sw…"

"Shhh," Graciela and Mick grabbed him back. "It wouldn't be worth it."

"It'd be a little worth it," Jax mumbled.

"Heads up. Baron Krieger just arrived," Nate informed as he watched the very man come in through the entrance doors.

Stein was forcibly brought up to the stage where he would, inevitably, sing a song for the audience. The others were nervous this would be the end of their undercover mission, but surprisingly Stein ended up singing a well to-do song. In the meantime, Nate had inched closer to where Krieger had sat down with another man, and when he listened in to what the plan was - an exchange of an ancient amulet - he announced it through the team earpods.

"Meaning it's time to go," Graciela looked at Sara, who instantly agreed. Sara turned towards the stage, signaling Stein to get off fast, before leaving herself.

Unfortunately, there was only time for a couple steps before a loud noise erupted from another side of the room. Ray had punched someone, starting a fight. Stein, still as Max Lorenz, was taken by German men to be protected in a separate room while the rest were left to fend for themselves. In the end, however, all went down along with the remainder of Germans as the JSA had finally arrived to put things to an end.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Steel demanded from all of them.

Stein slowly re-emerged from the room he'd been kept in and answered nervously, "We came back to...to rescue you."

"Worst team...ever," Graciela muttered as she rose to sit upright, cracking her neck.

"I don't exactly see you pulling your weight," Sara snapped. Graciela rolled her eyes and said nothing more.

~0~

The dark-skinned woman, now identified as Amaya, walked around the commanding table with mild interest. "If we're meant to be impressed by all this technology, it has the opposite effect. It only makes you that much more dangerous."

Ray tried not to look so offended by that. "Well, and there's evidence to support that, but I think what's important now is for all us to stop arguing."

"Does your team ever stop arguing?"

"Don't count me in this," Graciela was the last to come into the room, "I barely met them this morning."

"I think what we're all trying to say is we're gonna help you whether you like it or not," Sara nicely informed the other team. "You're going after Krieger. We know where he's going next."

"And given the laws of temporal mechanics, if you die, your grandson ceases to exist," Graciela felt it important to remind Steel. "They might be bumpy but if they had Rip as a Captain then they've had to learn _something_ along the way."

"Well, I don't pretend to understand any of this time travel bunk, but these fellas do have a timeship," Steel looked at his members. "Might come in handy."

Amaya was still eyeing them like they were children in need of some care. "And having them as our back-up might be the only way to keep them out of trouble."

"Let's put it to a vote, then," Rex suggested and soon raised his hand, followed by the rest of his members...and the Legends. "The ayes have it."

"Did your reconnaissance at the club yield any usable intel?" Steel inquired.

Sara motioned to be followed into the side room. "Only to map the area."

"Bringing one online now," Gideon's voice startled Amaya.

"What was that?"

"AI. A talking computer."

"What's a computer?" Steel barely asked before Gideon pulled up the map on the screen.

"There. The Fontainebleau Forest," Sara out her hands together.

"Now, I saw a few of Krieger's men studying a map of it," Amaya walked up to it. "That must be where Krieger's planning on making the exchange."

"Nate overheard Krieger talking about making a trade for something called an Askaran Amulet," Sara explained.

"Hitler has long amassed ancient artifacts such as this one. He may want the amulet because it conveys some sort of occult power."

"Then we need to get moving," Sara said and was agreed upon.

"We should have both teams gear up while Dr. Stein and I finalize the details," Rex said, glancing at Stein who had remained in the bridge with the others. Sara rolled her eyes but never corrected him on who was the leader. Why bother?

~0~

"How are things with your grandfather?" Graciela was asking Nate as they walked down a ship corridor, en route to the bridge to finalize the plan.

"You know, I think he's avoiding me for some reason…" Nate shrugged, no more surprised.

"Shell shocked, I'm telling you," Graciela tried to excuse the behavior of the man. Her eyes narrowed on a blotch of blood on one of Nate's sleeves which still looked pretty fresh.

Nate followed her eyes to his arm and pretended to only just realize. "Oh, one of the Nazis at the club had a knife."

"Well, that should have stopped bleeding by now…"

"I'm just gonna get a new bandage…" Nate started a hastier walk away but Graciela called him back.

"To go with your bruise?" she innocently smiled. "I wasn't peeking or anything but...while we were in the changing room I saw a bruise - and a fresh one too."

"Well, you know how fragile we historians can be…"

Graciela turned her head sideways, her knowing smile gracing her lips. "I don't think this isn't fragility. I didn't go to school but trust me when I say I grew up learning alright. We don't have hemophiliacs in the 22nd century anymore but I remember what it is. Your blood doesn't clot, wounds can't heal, and if it's bad, you can bleed to death."

"Yeah, well," Nate wasn't sure what to say next, "you don't have to worry about that."

He tried walking away again but she hurried after him. "If I become leader you're damn right I'm gonna worry. You could've died tonight!"

"But I didn't. In fact, it was the opposite. I never felt more alive."

"What? So fighting is like...a thing now? Let me tell you that fighting has a lot more complexity than you think," snapped Graciela, displaying a burst of emotions she'd yet to showcase since her arrival. "I also know my fair share of fights."

Mate sighed and went to explain calmly this time. "When I was five years old, I cut my knee, and my mother wouldn't let me out of the house till I was 16. I'm a grown man. I can make my own decisions."

"I'm pretty sure it didn't cover time travel. I cannot let you go out there tomorrow, knowing that you could get killed."

"You're not a team leader yet," Nate reminded as a last resort.

"This isn't about being a team leader, it's about being mature and understanding one's limits." Graciela sighed, putting one hand to her forehead. "Look if you go out there I'm telling the rest about your condition."

"Childish," Nate spat. "Don't you think?"

"No, responsible," Graciela softly corrected before walking past him. "I try to do that now."

~0~

It wasn't difficult locating the lorys of the Germans coming in to do the exchange. While Professor Stein, Graciela, Nate and Jax stayed behind on the ship to commandeer, the others went out.

"We've spotted the Baron's caravan," they heard through the ship's comm.

"Then get to it," Graciela ordered suavely.

From their end all they could see was the team member's position. On the other end, fighting was ensuing.

They had taken on each of German soldiers while Ray and Amaya - who preferred to be called Vixen in the field - went in search for Krieger who'd taken off.

"The mission is the amulet," Stein reminded over the comm. but was responded by Steel.

"Our mission is Krieger!"

Graciela ungraciously groaned. "We don't have time for this. Ray, Vixen, go after Krieger _now!_ "

However, Ray and Vixen were met with a monstrosity version of Krieger. He'd grown several feet high and with some muscles, resembling a gray version of the Hulk.

"What the hell was that?" Jax asked for everyone on the ship after hearing a loud roar.

"We're under attack. It's Krieger!" Ray frantically exclaimed. "He turned into a…" But he soon yelled and was no longer responsive. Even Vixen had disappeared after shouting they needed backup.

"Their comms. are down," Graciela busied herself with the table screen hoping to get some sort of response from the lost two.

~ 0 ~

With the team regrouped - both of them - the discussion of how to retrieve Ray and Amaya began.

"We have the amulet…" Obsidian remarked, holding the retrieved amulet in his gloved hand. "Now what?"

"Well, I thought keeping Ray and Amaya alive was the obvious priority," Graciela crossed her arms, coming to the conclusion that this was pretty much only the Legends' priority.

"Actually, our first priority is destroying the Baron and whatever serum is making him indestructible," came the conclusive response from Rex.

"Perhaps we could propose a trade?" Obsidian once again waved the amulet. "Their lives for the Amulet."

"Unfortunately, the amulet's not ours to barter with."

"We need an extraction plan, people," Sara sighed loudly.

However, Rex once again rejected the idea. "We need to eliminate the threat. Now, Professor Stein, please, tell us, what is your plan of action?"

" _Okay_ ," Graciela raised her hands in the air to stop them all from arguing. "We need to calm down and wait for your two members—" she pointed at Rex, "—to heal from the last fight and then think of what we can do."

"And who put you in charge?"

"Well," Graciela glanced back at the others, "You might be from 1942 but I am from 2166 meaning I have more than enough authority to outrank you. Care to work on a plan then?"

Because there was no time to waste, Rex agreed...but he did mumble something about not being a proper leader to Graciela. Taking out blueprints and maps and setting them on the side room table, the two teams gathered to come up with reasonable plans.

"...and we approach from the southwest, destroy the weapons lab and the Baron in one move," Rex finished his idea of a plan.

"Except for the last time we faced him, he took out both of our teams," Sara pointedly reminded; she was no where in the mood to face another monster.

"The last time, we weren't being backed by a squadron of B-17s."

"Wait," Graciela shook her head, "Then how do we get Ray and Amaya out before the bombs start falling?"

"We don't," Rex plainly answered.

Graciela took a moment to stare at him for any hint of a joke but when it didn't come she bluntly responded with, "I don't play that game."

"This conflict is bigger than any one of us!" Rex snapped. "If it means ending the war one day sooner, Amaya would happily make that sacrifice."

"There's no need for it," Graciela raised her voice to match his. "I will not have people sacrificing themselves willy-nilly, not anymore."

Sara tilted her head at those last two words. For the meantime, she wouldn't comment on it because of the sake of time...but she would bring it up later. "Listen," she took the conversation into another direction, "Neither of you know Ray like I do, and I know that he has a plan to get out of that bunker. We just need to give him time…"

"Which means giving the Nazis time," Rex rubbed his temples, beginning to get frustrated. "I'm calling in the strike."

"We can't let you do that," Graciea moved to where Sara stood. For once in that day, they were on the same page.

"You don't have the authority," Rex once again resorted to his default thought.

"Yes, she does," Sara straightened up, swinging one arm around Graciela's shoulders, causing the brunette to send her an odd look. They were definitely not on a touching basis either. "Because we elected her as our team leader and you gotta respect that."

"...well...I say we rescue the people," Graciela declared, still trying to overcome her surprise from Sara's action.

"And how do you suppose to do that?" Rex challenged, but Graciela had already been thinking about it and simply smirked.

~ 0 ~

Firestorm flew high in the air towards the German bunkers, shooting fire around it to cause a decent amount of chaos for the soldiers to get distracted with. Down on the ground, the others - save Graciela and Nate - took care of the incoming soldiers who got past the blasts.

"Mick!" Sara called as the man was nearing a potential blow from a soldier. However, someone else shot the opponent with a gun.

Mick turned around and saw Ray hurrying towards them, along with Amaya. "Thanks, Haircut." He then dug into his pocket and pulled out a small silver box containing Ray's miniaturized Atom suit. "I believe this belongs to you."

"Oh!" Ray took that with delight.

"If you're all done reuniting," came Graciela's voice over their ear pods, "May I remind you of the bombs heading your way?"

"For once I think she's right," Mick said to his other members before making a clean run for it.

"But Herr Krieger is here right now!" They heard Steel call from his spot. He was trying to shoot the now monstrous Krieger but the bullets proved to be useless as they were knocked down on the ground. Steel realized this wouldn't finish there so he rose up, "Come on, you Nazi bastard," he called and started running.

Krieger made a chase and followed him into the road. Bombs were beginning to fall and although there were many they hadn't yet caught either of them. Steel nearly fell on an abrupt stop when he heard engines nearing him.

"What are you doing here!?" he shouted at his future grandson who had somehow acquired a small motorcycle with a side passenger seat.

"Saving you!" Nate motioned him to get into the motorcycle. "Get on!"

Steel clambered inside and allowed Nate to go at full speed again. Krieger was hot on their trail with one arm repeatedly reaching for them. Nate pulled on the handles to hopefully earn more speed but that was not the case. Just when it seemed like Krieger was about to get them, a bomb dropped flat on him. Nate swerved into a stop and the two men glanced back to see Krieger down.

"He's dead," Steel breathed and had to laugh. "You did it. You saved us!"

But the two men barely had time to cheer when another bomb dropped on them as well. They were blasted apart, each falling unconscious onto the ground.

~ 0 ~

"I don't know whether to be mad or nervous," Graciela admitted as she, along with Sara and Steel, watched Gideon attempt to heal Nate's severe blood loss in the medbay.

"I'm afraid Mr. Heywood's vitals are dropping," Gideon announced a minute later.

"There's got to be something on board this tub to get him back on his feet. You people are from the future, for God's sake!" Steel had been controlling himself up until that moment.

"The bomb blast caused massive internal bleeding, and because his body lacks the normal clotting factor, there's only so much Gideon can do," Graciela explained in terms he would understand through his rage.

"How could you have let him out there like that?" Sara inquired not too much after.

" _Me_?" Graciela pointed at herself. "How could you have not checked that yourself before you came to meet me? Besides, I _did_ warn Nate to stay here or I'd tell all of you and then bring him home. He doesn't listen...apparently," she gestured to Nate's current bloody self.

"So what do we do _now_?" Steel practically demanded from the two women, expecting an answer fast. He could see basic puddles of blood dripping from his grandson's body with each second that ticked by.

Suddenly, Ray burst into the room. "I think I can save him, with this!" he waved a tiny packet filled with bright blue liquid inside.

"Is that the Nazi serum that created that hideous berserker?" Graciela arched one eyebrow. "Are you mad? What am I saying - of course you are!"

Ray disregarded her as he went for the table with needles and other tools. "I did a little tinkering to the formula, so it should work…"

"You are not going to experiment on him!" Graciela's outburst made everyone quiet for a second. She realized her mistake and quickly stepped away. "We're not sure it could work," she spoke a minute later, much more calmer but Sara knew she was just faking it.

"It's his only chance," Ray said and moved to inject the serum into Nate's arm.

Sara moved over to the wall screen that showed the vitals of the man. "So what will it do now?"

"With any luck, save his life," Ray looked up to see how the vitals were doing on the screen.

"How do we know if it's working?" Steel asked.

"He's not dead yet, so that's a good sign," Graciela inched closer to where Sara stood by the screen. "And he's not turning into a Nazi berserker."

The screen beeped and so Sara leaned closer to read some of the updates. Her eyebrows raised upwards, clearly surprised. "His vitals are improving. He's stabilizing."

"I apologize then," Graciela said to Ray right afterwards who took the words with a sheepish smile. "And I will scold the hell out of him—" she threw a pointing thumb at the unconscious Nate, "—when he wakes up."

~ 0 ~

When all things were said and done, and the JSA finally took their way back to 1942, the Legends - except Nate - gathered in the main room as per call of Gideon on behalf of Graciela. When they arrived, the brunette woman was standing by the center table looking at something on its computer screen.

"You know you seem to know your way around here more than we did when we first arrived," Sara commented and crossed her arms, getting that suspicious eye again.

"Yeah but, she's from 2166 remember?" Ray said as it should have been obvious Graciela would have more knowledge than all of them.

Graciela shut off the screen on the table and raised her head to see the team. "I was looking at your profiles," she began to explain, despite the comment Sara had made. "I like knowing who's on my team and I must say I'm a bit perplexed as to why Rip chose you all."

"Hey—" Jax began in an offended tone when Graciela raised a hand to stop him.

"I meant I was only curious," she elaborated. "Rip was very picky when it came to forming relationships with people. I am not, honestly. What I am picky about, however, is how a team is to work. Because, ladies and gentlemen, this team does _not_ work at 100% capacity."

"You said that already," Mick reminded.

"I did, and that's what I saw for most of the day. Miss Lance, our deal is up and my verdict is ready."

"Let us hear it," Sara put her hands behind her back, pretending to be oh-so-interested in the 'verdict' she already knew.

"This team is uncoordinated, unorganized, easily distracted by arguments, and frankly—" Graciela crossed her arms, "—you're all kinda rude." The Legends exchanged looks among each other and decided fairly quick she was probably right in all those aspects. "The last one isn't really a big problem. I am known to be that too but I am _never_ unorganized."

"You have to understand," began Stein, "We are still trying to find ourselves without Rip here."

"No I get it," Graciela raised her hands in neutrality, "It's hard when you lose the team leader. And the fact that you're _trying_ says a lot about who you are." She wasn't entirely sure what made Rip decide to bring these specific people on-board his precious ship. She didn't know how their relationship started but right now she _was_ absolutely sure that they wanted nothing more than to bring back their Captain safe and sound. "I won't be helping from afar—I'll be here on the Waverider until we find Rip."


	2. The Mantle of the Jinx

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Graciela has to deal with a stowaway on the Waverider and a team member who suddenly gains powers. Being the new leader of the Legends isn't at all what she thought it would be, especially when she can't bring herself to tell them exactly who she is.

All was quiet on the Waverider; no new aberration had occurred since the 1942 incident. The Legends had shown Graciela to a room for herself after the chaos. They were going to show her the rest of the ship until Graciela told them that she basically already knew where everything was. There was no hesitation on her part to show it by revealing a stash of hidden alcohol that Rip stored in his study. It was a done deal after that.

In her room Graciela laid on her bed with one arm over her forehead and her gaze glued to the ceiling. The letter left for her was resting over her chest, still unopened by her hands. She couldn't bring herself to do it just yet. The last time they spoke to each other, the last time they'd been in the same room, it was like every chaotic possibility happened. The screams and yells of that last argument still echoed in her head. Rip had made it very clear that he didn't want to see her ever again, much less on the Waverider.

_So why didn't you get rid of the letter?_

Graciela couldn't come up with a plausible reason. Her dark eyes flickered to the side. "Gideon?"

"Yes, Miss Haynez," the A.I. dutifully answered.

"The letter—did Rip really keep it voluntarily? Or did he just forget about it? Be honest, please." Graciela waited patiently as much as she could to hear the answer.

"The exact reasons as to why Captain Hunter kept the letter, I cannot say—"

_"Gideon._ "

"Contrary to my impressionable talents, mind reading is not one of them."

Graciela rolled her eyes with a hint of a smile. She did miss that A.I. more than she cared to admit. "Do you know why he kept it? Did he forget about it? Is-is that why it's still here?"

"No, he was very aware of that letter," said Gideon. "In fact, I was privy to when he pulled it out after years of it being hidden."

Graciela blinked. She turned her head up to the ceiling. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

Graciela pulled the letter off her chest and raised it up. She could see some of the words through the light but for the main part, it remained unknown. "Why'd he do that?"

"He edited something. I'm not sure what."

Graciela breathed in at the thought. What could Rip have done with the letter? She knew the first edition of the letter word for word. What could have changed? Her thoughts were interrupted with the loud sound of a thump out in the hallway. She sat upright and waited for another sound. Eventually, she left the letter on her bed—neatly folded—and walked out. Only two steps were taken in the hallway before someone dropped in from behind and knocked her out-cold.

Amaya Jiwe had stowed away on the Waverider.

~ 0 ~

Mick Rory planned to have himself a nice lunch. Graciela had given him the bottle she revealed in Rip's study. It wasn't much but it was his lunch and it tasted damn delicious. He was momentarily taken aback when Amaya literally dropped out of nowhere and threatened him with a knife at the neck. Despite her smaller stature, she had grasped him from behind and refused to let go.

"Look, if this is about me taking all the mayonnaise, you might be slightly overreacting," Mick said calmly.

"You killed him!" Amaya growled.

"Killed him? I've killed lots of people. You're gonna have to be more specific," Mick attempted to reach his sandwich again but Amaya pulled him back.

With a roll of his eyes, he reached back for her and threw her to the ground. Amaya touched the golden totem around her neck and an ape's figure and growl erupted in a blue mist above her. She charged forwards and threw Mick over the table. Amaya jumped over the table and meant to finish her work when a silver hand grabbed her wrist. Amaya's eyes widened in alarm but that didn't stop her from attempting to fight her newest opponent.

Nate's entire body was shining silver and of...steel? Even he didn't look quite sure of what was going on. Amaya tried punching him but instead hurt her own hand. Nate then hit her over the head with a lone hand and knocked her out.

Mick stared, dumbfounded, at the new sight of Nate. "What the hell happened to you?"

"I really...don't know…" Nate went honestly, raising his steel hands to look at them better.

~ 0 ~

"Let me get this straight..." Graciela rubbed her temples and not because of the pain she felt from Amaya's hit. This team was definitely something else. "You can now turn into _steel?"_

Nate was once again back in the infirmary and was with Ray and Graciela. His skin was non-steel at the moment but everyone was pretty freaked out by is new ability. "He injected me with Nazi serum," Nate pointed to Ray as his main defense. He definitely hadn't been searching for this.

"Good point," Graciela turned on Ray, making the taller, dark-haired man go high with alert. "Ray, what the _hell_ did you do!?"

"U-uh, I...well..I had redesigned the serum to quintuple my own strength and transform my skin into an alloy a hundred times stronger than steel," Ray said then smiled to himself. "Steel, that's a cool name."

Nate agreed with a light smile of his own. "Yeah, especially since my grandfather was called Commander Steel. But what does that make me? Corporal Steel? Mr. Steel? Citizen Steel?"

"Who cares?" asked Ray. "You got superpowers now, dude."

"This is not a laughing matter!" Graciela interrupted their bit. "We don't know what side effects this...this _thing_ caused. Ray, I need you to fix this!"

"Woah, hey!" Nate got up from the bed to argue over this 'fixing' bit. "I don't need fixing. If anything, I just need to learn how to control this steel-changing."

"Nate, listen to me, you don't want this," Graciela promised him. "This is some experiment gone wrong! You don't know what could happen—what could be _happening_ —to you because of this!"

"I feel _fine_!" Nate snapped, and loudly. "And because it's _my_ choice I choose to keep these powers! Ray, you can start teaching me now."

"Uh…" Ray's eyes flickered from Nate to the pretty upset Graciela.

She growled and stormed out of the night wing. She made a direct beeline for the holding room where Amaya had been placed during her unconscious state. By the time she arrived, she was more put together. Demanding and cold were one of the things she was infamous for in her days.

"What's the situation?" she asked Sara, ignoring Amaya for the moment.

Sara didn't look any happier than Graciela and Amaya did. She had her arms crossed and was facing Amaya suspiciously. "Well, she stowed away before the time jump from 1942—"

"Clearly," Graciela rolled her eyes.

"Well, she's claiming Mick killed Rex so she wanted to kill him in retaliation."

"Wait," Graciela blinked and now faced Amaya, "Rex Tyler? The Hourman? He was murdered?"

Amaya gave a curt nod. "His killer stole the Askaran Amulet."

"As surprising as that is—and it _is_ —I'm sorry to say that Mick hasn't done any crime while I've been on board."

"He's a thief and a murderer!" Amaya rushed up to the clear wall separating her from Graciela and Sara.

Graciela shrugged. "Yeah, I know. But as far as we know, Mick hasn't been off the ship since we dropped off your team at the JSA."

Amaya still didn't seem very convinced. "With his last words, he told me his killer was a time traveler."

Graciela didn't care but beside her Sara stiffened. "Well, hate to break it to you, sweetie, but there are plenty of time travelers. Some of them are pirates and this is the sort of stuff they loot for."

Sara cleared her throat and put a hand on Graciela's arm to get her attention. "We've, um...we've been tracking someone who's been trying to alter history." Graciela's head whipped in Sara's direction, her eyes wide with surprise. "We think it's the same person that gave Krieger the super-serum. This might be your time traveler."

"What?" Graciela stepped back from Sara, completely lost. "Why am I just hearing about this _now?"_

"Because you've been locked away in your room!" Sara exclaimed. She had tried coming up with a way to give Graciela the rundown of the things that happened in Rip's absence but she literally disappeared for hours after 1942. Sara went for the control pad of the holding cell. "Look, if I let you out of here, you promise not to hurt Mick unless he really deserves it?"

Amaya nodded her head and watched as Sara unlocked the cell. She then stepped out and glanced at Graciela, just to be sure they were all on the same page. Graciela, though still processing what Sara revealed, motioned for Amaya follow.

"So you want to tell me a little more about this time traveler person we're facing?" Graciela didn't waste time and prodded Sara for information.

"There's not much to tell, honestly," Sara admitted. "Because we don't know a lot. This is sort of the thing we would want from you, you know…"

"Look, I may be from the future but you saw where I was from. I'm a rebellion fighter—"

"You're a _what?"_ Amaya now oddly staring at Graciela's back.

"It's fine, I was fighting to build the city again," Graciela waved her off casually. "My city had been destroyed by this man called—"

"Vandal Savage, yeah," Sara nodded. "We know. _We're_ We're the ones who stopped him!"

Graciela snapped her fingers in Saran's direction. "And I thank you for that. Seriously. You gave me my freedom for that."

"What?" Sara raised an eyebrow but Graciela didn't explain. It wasn't the first time she said something along those lines.

* * *

_"I knew Rip before he went into their training as well as another friend there...and I may have been arrested by them for some unauthorized time traveling I did a year ago."_

* * *

Amaya was still stuck on the earlier words Graciela had said. "When you say 'rebellion fighter'..."

That, Graciela would answer happily. "They took down the dictator of my city but when he was gone, every politician raced to take the power he left behind so naturally there was still some fighting left to do for the city."

Sara was silent. They supposed that none of them ever really considered what aftermath would take place with Savage's defeat. Rip certainly never talked about it either, but they all figured it was due to the loss of his family.

"Okay," Amaya started again, "So...can't we just go back in time to save Rex? This ship _is_ a time machine, right?"

"Because we're dealing with another time traveler," Sara answered her. "If we go back and save Rex, the time traveler will just go back before then and kill Rex again, so instead of chasing our own tails, we need to identify who we're up against."

"Impressed you actually knew about that," Graciela mumbled but Sara heard perfectly.

"Rip did teach us some things…"

"I don't understand any of this," Amaya cut in again.

"Look, I just need you to trust us," Graciela turned around. "I didn't know about the rogue time traveler but now that I do, I promise we'll find them. In the meantime, Gideon will fly you home."

"I'm not going back until Rex's killer is brought to justice," Amaya said like it should have been obvious that was what was going to happen.

"You're from 1942 and part of the JSA, I'm pretty sure it'd be detrimental to have you here."

"You're from the future—"

"—yeah, so my legacy has already been jotted down in history, unfortunately," Graciela said quietly. It wouldn't be the best legacy but it was there. "But don't worry, everyone here is a professional who knows what they're doing." But just as the words flew out from Graciela's lips, the three women heard an incessant blasting above them. "Most of us," Graciela added before going to see what was happening.

They walked into the entrance of the ship where they saw Ray, in his Atom suit, shooting at Nate who was once again steel. The energy would simply reflect off him or bounce off.

"You're kidding me," Graciela's voice was enough to get their attention for about ten seconds before they started going back and forth.

"Professionals?" Amaya reminded her.

"I just met them."

"I know you not gonna take that, Ray," Jax laughed after Nate threw a humorous joke apparently. "Go crush this Tin Man."

"Nate, you shouldn't test yourself—" Graciela barely got to say before Ray was thrown against the ship's cargo door, managing to bust it open. Green clouds swarmed in the open and threatened to suck everyone out.

"Hold on, I'll close it!" Nate pushed through the force trying to pull them out. He clapped a hand over the control but electricity crackled against his steel hand and blasted him back. He was sucked out into the vortex.

Ray began to push himself closer to the door.

"Ray, get inside! We have to close the door!" Sara called to him.

"No, I got to go after him!" Ray activated his suit's helmet and flew out after Nate.

"Gideon, shut the cargo door!" Sara then shouted to their A.l.

As soon as they could, everyone rushed out of the cargo room. Alarms blared with the ship's several malfunctions and with only Jax to fix them, it was going to be a tricky one.

"What's happening to the ship?" Stein demanded when the group strode into the main room. He and Mick were standing with obvious confusion.

"Your idiots of a team," Graciela explained it with that, and frankly it was enough to understand. Sara helped her with the communications of the ship to get ahold of Jax in the engine room. "Jax, what's our status?"

"I've rerouted power from the secondary manifolds!"

"Where are Dr. Palmer and Dr. Heywood?" Stein looked around.

Graciela turned around, crazy angry. "Doctors? Ha! They don't deserve those titles! From now on, they're idiots 1 and 2!" Sara thought about defending the two but then she figured it wasn't such a far fetched statement.

"How is it you people haven't managed to kill yourselves yet?" Amaya rushed to get a seat. The ship was rocking and it wasn't gentle.

"The day is still young," Mick said just as calm as ever.

"Shut up!" Graciela snapped. She re-opened up the comm. with Jax. "Jax?"

"Yeah, I'm working on it!"

Graciela then followed up with Gideon. "Alright, Gideon, I don't know how you work exactly but can you track down Ray and Nate and take us to their position?"

"The explosive decompression caused us to lose corrective altitude, which put too much strain on the station-keeping thrusters," Gideon replied dutifully.

"For God's sake, say it how it is," Mick said gruffly. "We're screwed."

"We're screwed," Gideon repeated.

"You're a wonderful team!" Graciela ran her hands through her hair, fresh out of ideas.

Since there would be no option but to physically go and retrieve Ray and Nate, it was best to figure out where they were in the meantime and how best to find them in the new land.

"Fugile Japan? Seriously?" Graciela looked over to Sara to see what she made of the situation.

"At least we know they're alive," the blonde had settled for. "We best go get them before they get into trouble."

"How can you bring a thug on a rescue mission?" Amaya was quick to as once they group started for the wardrobe room. Mick grumbled at the insinuation. "I've known men like you. Men who take and prey on the weak."

"Listen, girly, I'm risking my neck for two morons who fell out of a ship. Why? 'Cause they'd do the same for me," he retorted in return.

"Gotta say that some crooks have a code," Graciela spoke up then added, "No offence, Mick."

"None taken. It's the first useful thing you've said."

Graciela rolled her eyes. "Now do you think Jax and Stein can really fix the ship, then?" She asked from Sara since the blonde had instructed the other two to work on the ship's malfunctioning parts.

"Rip taught Jax everything about the ship, he knows what he's doing," Sara reassured.

"Why are you on the ship?" Mick continued to argue behind them with Amaya.

"Cause I'm a member of the Justice Society of America. It's my job to protect everyone!"

"Except for me. You snuck up behind me and threatened to slice my throat like a ninja."

Amaya shot the man an annoyed look. "There's no such thing as ninjas, you idiot."

"Tell that to Chuck Norris."

"Who's that?"

"And _I'm_ the idiot," Mick rolled his eyes this time.

Amaya resented that insult and snapped back. "And by the way, I'm not your girly—"

"Oh my God, shut up!" Graciela had stopped to turn around, her dark eyes blazing with irritation. "Now don't think I won't lock you both up in the same cell if you don't shut the hell up." She put a finger to her lips, warning them not to continue their argument and continued to walk on, though she called for Sara to lead her to the wardrobe room again.

~ 0 ~

The day was dark when Graciela and the others emerged from the Waverider. Thanks to Gideon's help, they had acquired a device that would pick up on Ray's suit signals. It would make for an easy find, hopefully, and then off to find Nate.

"The Signal from Ray's ATOM suit is getting stronger," Graciela read off the handheld device. Her boots trudged along the muddy grass, but they were dirty as it was so it didn't really matter.

Unlike Sara and Amaya, Graciela had refused to change into a typical Japanese clothing because she fully believed this would be a quick 'in and out' plan. Sara then told her she still had a lot to learn. So there she was, dressed in jeans, a purple and white, buttoned up blouse and dirty brown boots.

"Hm," Mick was the one to stop when he figured where the device would lead them. Graciela stopped and glanced back at him. "Doesn't exactly look inviting, does it? It's like "Ninja III: The Domination."

Confused, Graciela followed his gaze and saw what could only be an emperor's living quarters. This was definitely not going to be a quick 'in and out' trip.

"Never took you for a cinephile," Amaya was close to laughing as she passed Mick.

"All I know is ninjas like to hide in trees. I don't see anything," Mick's eyes were wide as he spoke. "You don't find them, they find you."

"Just because you saw ninjas in a movie, that doesn't make them real," Amaya rolled her eyes, thinking of it as nothing but stories.

Sara, on the other hand, spoke up to agree. "I have to side with Mick on this one. They're real."

Amaya couldn't decide how worse this team could get. "You think there's a secret brotherhood of men trained in the art of assassination?"

Sara almost laughed at the irony of her back story. "I hate to break it to you, Amaya, but I'm basically a ninja."

"A deadly one," Graciela agreed in front, not that delved into the topic. She'd only read the profile of Sara left by Rip and was genuinely stumped how he could have chosen such a dangerous woman.

Then again, she never understand what Rio did anyways.

~0~

It was easy to slip into the Shogun's building. It almost made Sara sneer at how their security was primitive for such an important man. Amaya, on the other hand, insisted they not get ahead of themselves and just find Ray. Graciela agreed. If there was anything she learned in her past is that what started easy rarely ended easily.

The group crossed a hallway in silence, following where the handheld device led them to. The strode into an empty room where they thought Ray stood inside his suit.

"Haircut, let's get out of here," Mick motioned Ray with his heatgun to the door. "We're saving your ass, again."

The man, however, turned around to reveal to be the Shogun himself. "It is _you_ who needs rescuing."

Graciela lowered the handheld device with a sigh. "Seriously? He let the Atom suit get taken?"

The Shogun revealed a teethy, smug smile as he took a step towards them. "You are already defeated before you have even begun. I have been trained in the art of war by Shimura himself."

Sara didn't seem very concerned as she took the same step towards him. She whipped out her staffs and declared, "League of Assassins, class of '09. Don't take it easy on me." She zoomed past Graciela and started fighting the Shogun.

She did her best to fight him off but she didn't expect to find a more skilled opponent. The Shogun kicked her backwards and started for them when Graciela snapped her fingers and a purple beam of energy passed over the ceiling. A part of the ceiling then crackled until it fell over the Shogun.

"Interesting," Sara blinked at the sight but Graciela grabbed her arm and yanked her into a run. "How did you do that!?"

"Explain later!" Graciela hushed and nearly crashed into Ray on the turn.

"Oh, hey guys!" Ray was cheery enough to greet.

"Wrong way, Haircut!" Mick pushed him to keep going, but Ray wouldn't budge.

"What about my suit?" He froze when he saw the Shogun making his way out of the room with bits of ceiling over him. "We can get it later," he decided and rushed away.

Getting out of the forest was definitely easier by the time dawn arose. Now that they had Ray with them, they could turn over their attention to getting Nate back. Although the nab didn't have something like the Atom suit to stand out, since there was only village it was not hard to find the American amongst them.

"Nate, you're alive!" Ray beamed after he opened the door to a small cottage house.

Nate was indeed alive, and in good company with a woman. "Oh, hey, guys! You found me…" he said with a fake smile.

"I'm sorry, was this a bad time?" Graciela raised an eyebrow.

"Nope," he cleared his throat and got up, though with some groaning from his injury. The team questioned him with sharp looks but he didn't answer.

"Masako, these are, uh, my friends I was telling you about," he instead gestured to the woman with him.

She courtesy bowed at the others. "Hajimemashite. Can I get you something to drink?"

"Sake, lots of it," Mick didn't fail to answer.

Amaya shook her head disapprovingly. "What he meant to say is thanks for your hospitality, but we must be going."

Mick's gaze lowered to her with even more dislike. "No, I didn't."

"But she's right," Graciela said, siding with Amaya for logical reasons. She herself was a bit distrustful of Amaya at the moment. "Nate, let's go."

"I can't," the man made a face and soon earned the confused eyes of his team.

Graciela's eyebrows raised together, but before making a scene she smiled at Masako then flexed her finger at Nate to come over. Knowing he would have to explain himself, he followed the team out into the field where they would get some privacy.

"Why are you limping?" Sara eyed Nate's hand which wouldn't leave his abdomen for more than a minute. It was also where there was a blotch of blood. "What have you been doing!?"

Nate waved her off with a little groan as he moved to face them all. "We can't leave. Masako's supposed to marry the Shogun Tokugawa lemitsu."

"Yeah, met him. Not a fan," Sara sarcastically shrugged. She was mighty bitter he'd managed to beat her at something she was practically a master at.

"Well, the reason he sticks out in the history books is because he likes to murder his wives, and I can't leave Masako to his mercy."

"Especially since he stole my ATOM suit," Ray remarked.

"Exactly," Nate agreed before it actually hit him what Ray said. "Wait, what? You let the Shogun steal a 21st century super-suit?"

"After I crash-landed trying to rescue _you,"_ Ray made sure to remind How they all got into this mess in the first place.

"How the hell does the Shogun even know how to operate your suit?" Graciela had been wondering ever since they escaped the Shogun.

"I designed it so an idiot could use it."

"An idiot _does,"_ Mick grumbled from his spot. He'd made himself comfortable over a wagon full of hay, even looking close to falling asleep.

"Guys, bottom line is, if the Shogun has the ATOM suit, it's not just Masako and the village we have to protect. He can use it to conquer the whole region," Nate pointed out for them all to see the true danger of leaving prematurely.

"You said the Shogun's coming for your new girlfriend?" Sara eyed the field past Nate.

"Uh-huh."

"Easier to defend a village than to attack a castle," Sara then directed her glance at Graciela to see what she would say.

"Yeah, experience says that," sighed Graciela. "But here's the thing, that Shogun with the suit is practically invincible. He threw Sara like a ragdoll."

"But _steel—"_ Sara moved towards Nate and rested an arm over his shoulder, "—is stronger. There's our win."

Nate cleared his throat rather awkwardly. "About that, I'm having a little problem accessing my powers."

"Sounds like you're having performance issues and it looks like you're not done training him yet," Sara told Ray who opened his mouth to retort when Graciela went on.

"Alright, fine. Ray and Nate can work on the Shogun strategies while the rest of us figure out how to defend a village. It should be easier than a city but I don't want to get too cocky."

"Wake me up when the action starts," Mick moved himself slightly for a better position. He spit out the thread of hay from his mouth and shut his eyes.

Graciela's look was sharp. Her eyes flickered purple, causing a same colored beam to hit the wagon and tilt it over to the side. Mick dropped with a thud and he quickly shook himself up, confused with the matter. Graciela shook her head and started back for the house.

"Did she just…?" Nate's finger moved from where Graciela had stood to the tilted wagon.

"Yeah," Sara lowered his fingers, eyes glued to Graciela's direction. "I'm curious myself of what else she's hiding."

~0~

Jax and Stein had discovered a secret room that Rip never told then about, peeving Jax off especially since he'd been forced to learn every inch of the Waverider. They'd managed to enter the dark room, which turned out to store numerous weapons.

"It appears to be some sort of armory," Stein remarked after his flashlight illuminated a row of large guns inside a glass case.

"Among other things," Jax saw a pile of books over a desk, barely lit from a computer screen. "There's a reason why Rip didn't want us in here. Some things you can't un-see."

The lights of the room turned on, giving them full view of the armory. Stein lowered his flashlight, flicking the switch off at the same time. His eyes landed on the screen and saw a familiar name blinking in and out. "Look, Jefferson, our old friend has hailed the Waverider."

Jax saw the name and blinked. "Well…" he moved towards the screen and stopped when he saw a leather bound book at the stop of the paper stack.

"Let's play it," Stein was more focused on the video. He pressed his finger against the blinking message.

' _Sorry to contact you like this, Captain Hunter, Graciela. But I can't risk putting any more lives in danger…'_

Jax briefly looked up from the open book he'd picked up. "Thought this was from Barry Allen?" He had made a face at the deep voice of the message. That certainly didn't sound like the speedster they knew from Central City.

"It is. Only from 40 years in the future," Stein pointed at the date beside Barry's message.

"Yeah, but he also knows Graciela? A woman born a century later?" That alone made Jax even more suspicious.

' _And neither can this. Which is why you'll keep what I'm about to tell you a secret. Even from the rest of your team…'_

Jax stopped passing the pages of the book, which turned out to be a journal of some sort, when he spotted a familiar person in a photograph.

~0~

Training Nate would be a little more difficult than he thought but it was not impossible. There was only a bit of a pressure since Graciela had planted herself a couple feet from them with arms crossed and a serious face that versaw everything. The woman reminded Ray of Oliver Queen at that moment.

"The ATOM suit is made of and powered by dwarf star alloy. It's strong enough to withstand bullets, arrows, and explosives." Ray had built a target out of a scarecrow and used a stick from the ground as a pointer.

"So it's impenetrable?" Nate asked, his hopes of winning beginning to dwindle.

"Not quite. Underneath the left thruster is the alpha-stabilizer. If you destroy it, the photons that stream from suit's weapons systems will overheat, theoretically causing somatic overload."

"Theoretically, that's... that's comforting..."

"You have to get close to the Shogun, and in order to do that, you have to be able to harden."

"Well, when you're putting it in those terms it isn't helping!"

Graciela rolled her eyes at the two and finally moved forwards. "Ray, how did you get him to turn his powers on the first time?"

Ray tilted his head in thought. His eyes gazed over the stick in his hand, and suddenly he whacked Nate on the side with it.

"Ow!" Nate cried but Ray him a second time.

"Interesting," Graciela mused but Nate was not having fun.

"It worked the last time," Ray almost pouted before continuing to whack Nate, this time on the back of the legs. "Come on. My serum is flawless!"

"The serum was genetically engineered," Graciela set her hands on her hips. "Nate was not. It's probably your lack of focus."

That was like an alarm set off inside Nate. His eyebrows knitted together in outraged anger. "You think I'm not focusing!?"

"Well, you _did_ fool around when I first asked you to train with Ray and then instead of trying to find us after crash landing—on your ass I may add—you waste time with some woman—"

By the time Graciela finished her answer, Nate's anger had risen to the next level. "You don't think I don't want to save the girl, spare the village, and be a hero for once in my damn life? I spent half of my childhood in the hospital where it didn't even occur to me to dream about having superpowers—"

"And did it ever occur to you that I know what it's like to be locked away without any remote possibility of escaping?" Graciela's louder voice was able to cut him off. "I know exactly what it's like to know that you won't amount to anything _good_ in the world. If you knew where I spent the previous year of my life, you would think twice before telling me that," she spat and stormed off.

~0~

Stein and Jax emerged from Rip's secret hatch room with troubled faces, one more than the other.

"Should we tell the others?" Stein inquired over Barry's future message.

"Barry sent the message to Rip and... Graciela, so maybe we shouldn't," Jax bitterly said as he went through the journal he'd insisted on taking. "But this—" he pulled up a photograph from the journal, leaving Stein to wearily stare at it again, "—is something we _can't_ let slide."

A prison mugshot of Graciela was definitely something Stein would never forget.

~0~

Graciela sat lonesomely on the back porch of Masako's home, picking and tossing hay between her hands. She saw Ray's shoes coming towards her but did not initially say something when he sat down beside her. She knew the spectacle she'd made back there. It was completely unnecessary when the situation was so dire.

"Ray, I'm sorry," she surprised him with. He barely blinked when Graciela continued, "I was busy yelling at Nate when you're the one about to lose your suit."

"Well…" Ray hadn't necessarily talked about the fact he was about to lose his most prized possession.

"I'm not a top notch scientist but I know what overload means," Graciela faced him with a sad smile. "I'm sorry." Ray's shoulders slumped forwards, his eyes stuck on his lap. "I should have been more attentive to everyone and not just Nate, I just…" she sighed, shaking her head and throwing the last of her hay. She picked her head up, eyes flickering to the side. "I guess I'm just trying to be like Rip in this...team…"

Ray smiled in amusement. "Are you kidding? Rip would never shout like that, I mean he'd attempt to but Sara would shut him down. You're not like him, and I don't think that you should try."

"He was a good Captain," Graciela said, reminiscent. "I remember him, he was... just...amazing."

"Rip was…" Ray tried to figure out the best word to describe their troublesome Captain. Graciela chuckled as Ray swayed his head with no words coming to mind. "He was one of a kind, I guess, and I think if he left you in charge it was because he thought you were the best woman for the job."

Graciela's eyebrows knitted together, a slight guilt pouring from her. "I'm not so sure," she whispered. She put her hands on her knees and pushed herself up. "But I suppose it's time I stop wondering what Rip wanted and I just start doing what I always do."

"And what would that be?" Ray watched her go.

"Cause trouble," Graciela's eyes glowed purple as she smirked, much more determined now.

~0~

The Shogun made his appearance at the scheduled time the team estimated he would. He first met Nate - who was shot down by Ray's suit - and then moved on to find Masako in the fields. The rest of armed men went on a hunt for the villagers.

Sara stood tall and ready for her looming battle. The gates behind her were shut to keep the villagers protected and they were going to remain that way. Her eyes gazed over the challenger who stared back at her condescendingly. "Rematch?" Sara gave a twirl of her swords.

The man seemed more amused. "Who is your master?"

"I have no master."

"A ronin. You're not worthy of the effort."

Sara's eyebrows raised, her smirk pulling the man into the battle. The two charged at each other with all the intent of winning. Amaya charged on with her totem's help - using the strength of a lion - and went after the other men threatening them.

In another part of the forest, Mick had a run in with the very fantasy he always dreamed of. "I don't want to shoot you guys," he raised his hands, complete with his heat-gun. "I love ninjas."

The three ninjas surrounding him did not feel the appreciation.

Ray was having his own battle against the Shogun himself and was having trouble getting his sword to make damage on the Atom suit. Eventually, the Shogun knocked Ray down with the sword and let it drop to the ground. Just as the Shogun aimed his fist, powered up by the suit, Masako cut in with her family's sword.

"You dishonor my family and torture my village," the woman breathed hard and held her sword ready to use it.

The Shogun sneered and snatched the sword from her and, in the process, pushed Masako down. He raised the sword. "I will enjoy killing you."

Before he could do anything, a steel-covered hand grasped the sword. Nate had finally re-acquired his lost powers and was more than ready to use them for good. "We haven't been introduced. Name's Steel."

Back with Sara and Amaya, Amaya was going through the men as best as she could. Despite her super strength and agility, it did not make her impenetrable. As she was finishing up with one, another was trying to sneak up on her. She kicked the man in front down and heard the rise of a sword behind her. Turning around, she found the sword only midway down because someone else had grabbed it.

Graciela's eyes were fiercely purple, no sign of pain on her face despite the sword cutting her palm. "Game's _over,"_ she declared. Her purple energy encased the sword and made its texture rusty enough to break. She raised her boot and smacked it hard against the man's chest.

At the same time, Sara ran past them and appeared to go directly beside her challenger. They both came to a stop, breathing heavily, but the man began to cough. Blood spilled from his mouth and Sara turned around with a smaller blade in hand.

There was silence for a couple of seconds until the three women heard the crunching of footsteps nearing them. Thinking it was another of the Shogun's men, the three prepared themselves. A black-clothed figure stepped out with a familiar heatgun in hand.

Mick pulled off the cowl of his ninja apparel with a biggest grin possible. "Ninjas are _so_ real."

~ 0 ~

When the team returned to the Waverider, they spotted Jax and Stein in the main room having their own personal conversation. As soon as Jax saw the group coming in, he closed down the journal he'd taken from Rip's hatchroom and waited for them all to gather.

"So, is the Waverider good to go?" Graciela came up and planted her hands on the console. She swallowed down her hiss when her bare, cut up palm touched the cold metal of the console.

"Uh, yeah, all good," Stein gave a firm nod and glanced at Jax.

Graciela's eyes flickered from one half of Firestorm to the next, and soon the rest of the team figured there was something off.

"What is it?" Sara asked, crossing her arms.

Stein seemed reluctant but Jax was determined to get some answers. "We found something," Jax took lead and picked up the journal from the console, waving it for the team to see.

"Is that Rip's?" Graciela assumed since the ship did belong to the man after all.

"Yeah, but, uh...it's about _you_." This is where Jax's suspicions resurfaced. His eyes narrowed on Graciela who blinked and looked back at the team. "Tell us, Graciela, what exactly is _this?"_ Jax raised the mugshot of Graciela for the others to see.

There were various reactions from the team upon seeing the photograph. Sara's eyebrows raised together, clearly interested in the story behind that picture. Ray and Nate's mouths fell open with shock. Amaya's face hardened with even more suspicion against the team as a whole.

Mick was the only one to give a sound of reaction, it being a low grumble. "You just got more interesting."

Graciela passed a hand through her curls and sighed. "I don't think you were supposed to find that…"

"But we did," Jax went around the console with the picture still held for the others. "And you were in jail. You said that before, when you first arrived, but I didn't really think you were being serious."

Graciela snatched the mugshot from him and stared down at her face. She figured this was on her for not telling the team of her backstory, but in her defense she didn't think they would go snooping around and beat her to it.

"What were you in jail for?" Sara asked out loud, knowing that was the question everyone behind her had.

Graciela turned around, lowering the photograph. "Gideon? Pull up my case in the Time Masters' archives, please."

"Of course," Gideon pulled up a hologram a video.

"Play it, please."

The video began to play from where Graciela was forcibly pushed down into an interrogation chair. Her wrists were forced down on the table and kept there like magnets. The team could see two men walking past the camera to stand across Graciela.

" _You are being charged with stolen possessions of a Time Master, illegally time travelling and trying to alter history," spoke one particularly deep-voiced man._

_Graciela blew some air to get a curl out of her face. She raised her head at the pair of men. "You want me to plead guilty? Fine. Yeah, I did it." There was absolutely no regret in her voice._

" _The stolen time watch belonged to Rip Hunter_ — _" the second man began to say, alarming Graciela._

" _Hey - **I** stole it!" she exclaimed. "He didn't even realize I did it. He had nothing to do with it!"_

" _You also had contact with the Time Master Kai just before making your trip_ — _"_

" _He also had nothing to do with it," Graciela enunciated slowly for them to understand what she was saying. "I made the decision to go back in time, find Vandal Savage and terminate him. It was all **me,** alright? **Me!"** she shouted. She smirked, all too proudly. "And if I could, I would do it all over again."_

Graciela gave the order to stop the video. She wouldn't face the others just yet. "A couple hours later is when they would tell me that everything I did in the past wouldn't even matter. Vandal Savage wasn't dead."

"You went back in time to stop Savage?" Sara blinked. "How—we...we were trying to do that!"

"I know, that came _after_ my failed attempt," Graciela sighed heavily. "See, I went back in time about a year ago from my perspective. I went back to Central City 2016 to stop Savage. I met the Flash there and then later the Arrow and the Azalea. All of us fought against Savage, including the reincarnated Hawks, and after fighting, after thinking he was gone...I was arrested." She chewed on her bottom lip. "No jury, no court—I pled guilty and I was sentenced to a life in prison."

"But when the Time Masters were wiped out...then you must have…" Stein moved past Graciela to join the others.

"We were set free, the lot of us. I didn't understand how but the guards there - the remaining Time Masters that weren't in their headquarters didn't know what the hell had happened so...they set us free."

"But why did you go back in time in the first place?" Jax demanded.

Graciela shrugged. She supposed now was a good of a time to tell them the truth. "My name is Graciela, but to a lot of people I'm known as the _Jinx._ Now that name—that _mantle_ —I took from my mother who took it from her mother and so on. From where I'm from, the _Jinx_ was known as an evil sorceress who was capable of anything. Authorities led by Savage at that point thought it would be in the people's best interests to dissect metas and...my kind of people...and experiment on them. You have no idea how many people I lost to that," she swallowed hard. For the first time, the team was privy to a vulnerable side of her. "My parents were one of those people. My grandmother...important people. They weren't the best people—I certainly am not one either—but they did _not_ deserve to die like lab rats for a dictator."

Her teary eyes and her shaking body reminded the team of Rip when they'd first came along the Waverider. The man had been nothing but determined to stop Savage in the past to prevent his dictatorship in the future and thus save his family. It sounded like Graciela had made a similar decision, only she had been unsuccessful and caught.

"I was sentenced to prison because I made a bad call, but I don't regret it," Graciela clarified. "I'm just sorry it didn't make a damn difference." She put the mugshot on the console and walked off into the corridors. The last thing she wanted was for the others to see her cry.

~ 0 ~

It was beyond Graciela why people would decide to bother her after such a spectacle she made earlier. She was sure it nearing sleeping time - if not it had already passed - so when she heard a light knock on the kitchen threshold and saw none other than Jax coming in. Graciela wasn't upset with him but he certainly wasn't her favorite person at the moment.

"Can I help you?" She stuck a spoon into a carton of ice cream she'd found. There had been a label of 'Sara' but she figured she could replace it before the blonde even found out.

"Um, first I would like to apologize for bringing up your, uh...history," Jax left it at that and forced himself to look at Graciela's sharp eyes. "I just wanted to make sure there was no danger to my friends alright?"

"That's fair," she agreed. "Everyone before me was...pretty bad. Me? I'm...Well, I'm not going to lie, I was a really terrible person. I was a crook, a criminal...and I liked it." She waved her spoon in the air before stabbing her spoon into the ice cream again. "But I like to think that I'm not completely terrible if I managed to switch sides wholeheartedly. I turned a new leaf and ended up leading the rebel team…"

"I'm sorry," Jax reiterated and took a seat across the table. "But I think there's something you need to listen to."

Graciela scoffed and stuck her spoon into her mouth. "Like what?" came her muffled question.

Jax pursed his lips.

~ 0 ~

Graciela followed Jax down the corridor, still eating Sara's ice cream, into Rip's secret hatchroom. She chewed calmly - something that made Jax wince because who the hell chewed ice cream?

"Leave it to Rip to hide the goodies," she mused over a glass display of guns.

"Yeah, that's not why I brought you here," Jax walked up to the large computer screen still holding Barry's message. "At first we didn't know whether or not to show you this—"

"We?" Graciela started for him.

"Stein and I were here earlier," Jax explained but moved on. "And we found this message from, uh, our friend which I guess you know."

Graciela had come up to stand beside him and saw the screen. "Barry Allen? Huh. Never thought I'd see that name again."

"You said you fought Savage together so...you know who the Flash is…?" Jax asked, just to make sure this wasn't a mistake.

"Course I know. And of course I remember him. You should've seen his face when I was arrested in front of him," Graciela held her spoon to the screen. It occurred to her that from where Barry stood, she was _still_ imprisoned. "Did you play the message?"

"Uh, yeah, and we don't really understand it…" Jax admitted. Neither he nor Stein had been able to decode Barry's message despite all the possible topics they came up with. "But maybe you can since you're from the future...and it _is_ addressed to you too."

Graciela made a face at him, but he just went ahead and replayed the message. Despite the good ice cream in her hands, she ended up putting her spoon back in the carton once Barry's message finished playing. Her mouth slightly opened, her eyes widening to match. Jax ultimately decided to leave her with it but was sworn not to say anything to anyone.

Graciela put her ice cream carton on the desk and stared at the screen. There were various questions that came to mind, starting with what the hell had Barry changed that would now alter the future. But then another curious thing caught her attention - why would Barry address the message to Rip and _her?_ This ship belonged solely to Rip, people probably knew that. So...why would Barry think otherwise?

* * *

**Author's Note** :

So here we are with a basic overview of Graciela's background. We'll see more as the story goes on! Once again, Graciela is not the original Jinx. She's a descendant!

Graciela is OC #2 out of 3 total Arrowverse OCs. The first one being OC Belén Palayta from my Flash fic on my profile and the third being Anais Allen-Mjorkland from my Supergirl fic that are all under my profile! Feel free to check them out!

As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"


	3. Everlasting Ripples

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The search for Rip Hunter continues but the team must first make a detour to stop zombies from swallowing the Civil War. During the battle is when Graciela realizes that perhaps their aberrations didn’t all originate from Vandal Savage’s defeat.

_'Sorry to contact you like this, Captain Hunter, Graciela. But I can't risk putting any more lives in danger, a_ _nd neither can this. Which is why you'll keep what I'm about to tell you a secret. Even from the rest of your team. A war is coming_.'

"Why are you two still in here?" Graciela startled the hell out of Jax and Stein inside Rip's secret hatch room. Her dark eyes flickered from one man to the other, clearly expecting to be answered.

"We want to make sense of this message from our mutual, future friend," Stein said, his voice stuttering a bit.

"Yeah, which I still don't understand," Jax spike more calmer since this hadn't been his idea anyways. As far as he knew, the message Barry sent wasn't even for them. "You said that Barry still thinks you're in prison, so why would he leave you this message?"

"Beats me," Graciela shrugged her shoulders. It wasn't like she'd been thinking about it all night, possible _nights_. As far as Barry Allen, Belén Palayta and Oliver Queen knew, she was still imprisoned in the future.

"Aren't we going to do something about it?" Stein asked, gesturing to the screen still waiting to once again replay the message.

"Like what?" Graciela walked over and switched the screen off. "Contact future Barry? Forget it. I'm trying this thing where I _don't_ mess up Time anymore. I will leave it up to Rip when he comes back."

"Yeah, but what if Rip...doesn't…?" Jax trailed off when Graciela's eyes narrowed on him.

"He _will._ I'm not going to stop looking until I find him," she vowed and nodded the two out of the room. "From now on this room is strictly forbidden. I don't want anyone else finding this room and sticking their noses where it doesn't belong."

"We didn't stick our noses," Stein remarked rather offhandedly.

"You kinda did. It's why we're here," Graciela patted his arm as he walked out of the room.

After getting the two out of the hatchroom, Sara called them in through the comms. telling them they had in incoming message. The rest of the group was gathered inside the study where the library screen was bright and alive.

" _We've got something. I don't know when I am. I've activated the temporal beacon. You get in the Dauntless and you get out here and rescue my ass_ ," a man was raging the message at them.

"We just got this message from God knows who," Sara crossed her arms and leaned back against the desk.

"Does anybody here not open messages that weren't sent to them?" Graciela muttered under her breath before taking a look at the message again. She re-watched the small clip and hummed. "Definitely not a Time Master. I've seen plenty to know they're not vulgar—actually it's what made them even more pompous."

"We're thinking he's a Time Pirate," Ray spoke up. "He activated a beacon. We have to go after him."

"He's a Time Pirate. Why would we rescue him?" Nate looked at the others with a sense of confusion. It certainly seemed like a waste of time.

"Because if he ends up somewhere he shouldn't, and does something he shouldn't...it's Aberration-palooza," Graciela popped the 'p' and whirled around. "So let's see where he's going to end up in, shall we?" she clapped her hands and started for the bridge.

It took Gideon only a minute to track the origin location of the Time Pirate's message, and the location was...

"Looks like Mississippi, 1863," Graciela read out loud, not too thrilled.

"Height of the American Civil War," Nate added with a somber look. "It's also the bloodiest year in American history."

"We gotta watch each other's backs out there," Ray gulped.

"You're absolutely right, Ray," Graciela's nod was a sweet, sarcastic one that only Ray didn't see coming. "Which is why I believe you should watch all our backs from the Waverider."

"Huh?" Ray's crestfallen face did no number on Graciela. This was simple math to her in war strategies.

"If you don't mind, someone has to stay behind as backup. I always do this for precautions," she assured and nodded the others to start filing out.

~0~

"This is hideous," Graciela was the first to speak about their period attire. She was in a purple and brown, plaid dress with puffy sleeves. "God, I've never gone to war in such a ridiculous disguise."

"I'm with you there," Sara was not having the best of time with her own blue and white, puffy-sleeved dress. "I find black to be more slimming for these occasions."

"Words of wisdom by the assassin," Graciela noted but this was no offence for the blonde.

"Purple's not so bad either," she shot Graciela a wink. For once, they shared a mutual laugh.

The two hurried up and got finished dressing up then headed down to the compartment where the rest of the team was already waiting. Ray was offering them brown paper bags for some reason.

"Along with comms devices, I also packed sacked lunches," he gave one bag to Graciela. "I figured the food in 1863 is pretty lousy."

"Are you always so…?"

"Yes," Sara answered the question before it was even finished. Ray didn't seem to mind so neither would Graciela.

"All right, the operation is simple. We isolate the target, we eliminate the timeship, and we get out of there," she instead addressed the team as a whole. "I don't want any trouble, if that is even possible for you all." By the looks of the team, _they_ didn't even know.

"Come back safe," Ray wished them all good luck but unfortunately since he couldn't go out into the field, he found another way to stay close by.

Everyone continuously rolled their eyes as Ray gave them the weather report of 1863 Mississippi. Eventually when he started going through random trivia facts, Sara shut off her comms. Her victorious smile prompted everyone else to assume what she'd done.

Graciela wondered if shutting off Ray's comms would be the better solution, even though it was rather rude since Ray was ideally trying to help in however he could without his suit. But, when he moved onto known songs of Mississippi 1863, she had to do it as well.

"Did you just shut off his comms?" Nick was the first to ask after their ears had felt silence.

"Unfortunately."

"Good. It's the first good thing you've done," Mick walked passed her, missing Graciela's look of offence.

"Believe it or not that was actually a compliment," Jax patted Graciela's shoulder, offering her a small smile.

"I'll show him how we compliment where I come from," the woman muttered and picked up her pace.

Following the coordinates got the team to a dusty looking pod that had shattered front windows.

"I can't believe it. It looks to be some kind of escape pod," Amaya was astonished by the clearly advanced ship on the ground.

Stein made a round on it, examining its condition. "No doubt, it fell out of the Temporal Zone."

"No sign of anyone," Sara and Nate each had a look while Jax took observation of the engines.

"Well, the power core looks exposed."

"That mean what I think it means?" Mick stepped forwards, hand grabbing his heat gun.

"Just do it," Graciela gave the order, furthering his like for her in that moment.

He incinerated the ship from the inside with one fire. There was a big grin on his face that Graciela had to side-glance in concern. "Ah, what's next?" Mick looked around for any more requests.

"Seriously, you in the rebellion would've been amazing...for _my_ side of the team," Graciela admitted.

"This is turning out to be one of our easiest missions yet," Stein said in genuine awe of their luck. Of course that was cut short when they heard a man screaming for help at a distance.

Sara shot the professor a look. "You had to say that, didn't you?"

Amaya was the first to spot a man running away from what looked to be a group of soldiers. "It's over there!" Before she could love away, Jax held onto her arm.

"Whoa, wait, we're not supposed to interfere with historical events!"

Amaya swiftly shook his hand off her arm. "Try and stop me."

"Is she for real?" Graciela jerked a thumb in Amaya's direction as the latter stalked off. "She stows away and she just expects to do what she wants? _Um_ …" As she turned around, the team caught a flash of purple glimmering in her eyes, letting them assume what she would do.

"Hey!" Nate reached over to stop her. "In her defense, she just started—"

" _Stowed_ away. She stowed away."

"Look, she's either gonna get herself killed or completely screw up history," Sara tried a different approach that seemed to do the trick.

The purple in Graciela's eyes calmed as she sighed. "Fine. Go end it _fast_."

Jax was ready to go with a hand out for Stein. "Let's get those Confederates off his back."

Firestorm took off into the air, leaving the others to follow in their direction at their own pace. In one quick blow, Firestorm took out the group of Confederate soldiers. By the time the others caught up, Firestorm was gone but there was one lone man still terrified for his life.

"What was what?" the man panted as he tried to catch his breath, though his eyes flickered from one member to the next in case one of them decided to attack him too.

"We didn't see anything," Nate shrugged ever so casually that it made Graciela roll her eyes.

She moved forwards, only stopping when she saw the man retract the same steps backwards, clearly suspicious of her intentions. "Look, I've got no interest in what you were doing. We're just passing through." And with that, she glanced back at the rest of the team, eyes specifically lingering on Amaya. "My _team_ —" she spat the word out, "—knows when to follow orders. So let's go."

The others didn't need a reminder of what was at stake so they each got going. As Graciela passed Amaya, the latter incredulously spoke up. "We can't just leave him here."

"You don't get to stow away on a ship and do what you want," Graciela responded with, garnering the same incredulous look Amaya had seconds ago.

Unfortunately, though Amaya wouldn't say anything, Nate did. "You're dispatch, aren't you?"

"Seriously!?" Graciela whirled around to Nate. This had to be a newbie kind of thing.

"Wait, what's a dispatch?" asked Jax, who, in Graciela's opinion, wasn't helping the case.

"It's a former slave providing information to the Union Army," explained Nate, now sheepishly smiling at Graciela. He recognized his mistake and the sharpness in the woman's eyes was quite intense.

"My name is Henry Scott. I'm a free man from Trenton, New Jersey," the man introduced himself deposited being confused by everyone.

"Well, you're a long way from home and we need to be getting out of here," Graciela clapped her hands together and once again looked at her group. "Right?"

"Yeah, hold that thought," Sara hitched the sides of her dress and moved forwards to see the dead group of soldiers now _rising_ from the ground.

Graciela followed Sara's direction and didn't know whether to laugh or scream at what she was seeing. "You have _got_ to be kidding me. Those are _actual_ —"

"Don't... don't... don't say it!" Stein burst into shouts of plead. He never wanted to hear there was a group of now undead Confederate soldiers running towards them. Zombies weren't real.

"Zombies. There are _zombies_ …" Graciela nodded slowly like she was just going to accept that this was one more thing they would be seeing from now on. And _she_ had seen plenty in her time. "Someone take care of the zombies now, please."

Firestorm took lead as it merged once again. Sara whipped out her shuriken while Amaya underwent the strength of a gorilla to take down incoming... zombies. Purple flickered across Graciela's eyes before there were sudden ruptures on the ground, sucking in some zombies. There were zombies making it past them, so Firestorm took lead and shot the ground with awesome fire power. Several of the team below were blasted away from the impact, including Henry Scott.

"Is everybody okay?" Jax asked once Firestorm had disbanded and the two men were on the ground.

"Never mind us…" Graciela groaned as she pushed herself up from the dirty ground. "When the hell did we get zombies in the 1800s? Where's the historian!?"

"Don't say that word!" Stein practically pleaded, even planting his hands on his ears. "I know they're essentially a myth, but I have this irrational fear of…"

Graciela tilted her head at him, partly amused though she kept it well hidden behind a cool face. "Zombies."

Stein shook his head fervently. "Please, don't say it!"

Graciela raised an eyebrow, looking so tempted to continue the taunt on the man, but the cries of Jax turned their attention to see Henry had been hurt during their fight. He had a metal plunged through his chest, blood was already spilling from his mouth too.

"Satch- my my satchel!" the man croaked in-between the blood spills his mouth was doing. "Are you...are you...Union?"

Jax have a bob of his head. "Kinda…"

"My... my orders. Collins Plantations. Confederate troop movements. Without them…"

Jax preferred that Henry keep his strength but even before he could say it out loud, Henry died.

~0~

"Hey! Nice job blowing up the Time Pirate's escape pod!" Ray cheerfully exclaimed when he saw the team coming into the control room. "Put another win in the mission column!"

Jax shot the man a sharp look for his insensitive words. "Did you not see what happened next?"

It was then that Ray noticed the grim faces of the others. "No, I took a break. Had to go to the bathroom. What happened?"

"Zombies happened," Graciela's answer was met with a skeptical look from Ray but she didn't notice it as she went up to the console.

"What?" Ray waited for someone to laugh and say the real problem, but when no one did that he turned again to Graciela. " _What_?"

"I should have been more attentive," Graciela was already going through information, propped as a hologram above the console. "The Time Pirate's distress call referenced something called a TX-90. It's a futurist bioweapon. I remember learning about it."

"What exactly does it do?" Sara came around the console, "Besides the whole zombie thing?"

"Stop saying that!" Stein clapped his hands over his ears.

Both women rolled their eyes at him and carried on with their conversation.

"It was a weapon created to cut our population in half. I believe you are all familiar with the lovely virus Vandal Savage helped release?" Graciela laid sharp eyes on all of the crew, though only Amaya and Nate looked concerned about it. "This is just another version of it. And if the infected Time Pirate is out there spreading this virus, then we need to go back and put an end to it all."

"No kidding. Having zombies, or whatever they are, running around the Civil War is not a good thing," Nate pursed his lips together, unable to think of that much chaos in an already bloody time period.

Not a second later did they hear something crash against the floor. Mick had suddenly gone down.

"You have got to be kidding me - let me guess, he was bitten?" Graciela didn't even look concerned about it, which she earned a look from Amaya for.

"He could be seriously infected," Amaya warned while they watched Ray, Stein and Jax carry Mick towards the medbay.

"And this is a time ship, he'll be okay," Graciela returned to the controls to do something else. She pulled down the bioweapon information to search for something else. "Besides, I heard Ray is good at concocting creations. Just ask Nate." At that, Nate had to give an agreeing nod. "What is not going to be okay is history…" Graciela stepped back when the hologram displayed the new timeline before them.

"I'm guessing, thanks to the zombies, the Confederacy won its independence from the Union," Sara scrunched her face, knowing fully well they had a lot of work to do.

"It wasn't just them," Nate started coming around as he skimmed more of the details. "That guy, the dispatch, his mission orders are from General Ulysses S. Grant. He was supposed to infiltrate the Collins Plantation and steal Confederate troop movement orders."

"And let me guess, in the original version of history, those plans helped win the war?" Graciela sighed and brought a hand to her forehead.

"The plans Scott stole helped Grant win the Battle of Champion Hill, hugely important," Nate left it at that.

"I swear leading a rebellion group in a worldwide war was a lot easier than this," Graciela let her arms drop to her sides. "What is it with all of these aberrations?"

"We got rid of the Time Masters," Sara reminded her, but Graciela still shook her head.

"Even then, this is too much. It's too intricate to be random." Graciela didn't know a lot about timelines but thanks to her two friends who used to be Time Masters, she knew enough to be sure that all these aberrations couldn't be just from the erasure of an organization. It had to be helped - pushed - by something else. Graciela rubbed her face and brought her elbows up on the console. "Back then, Rip and Kai, my other friend with the Time Masters, they used to tell me how Time was a delicate thing. It was _malleable_ ; delicate. We shouldn't mess with it."

"Yeah, we got that speech too," Sara nodded, "Though I guess it's a paradox considering we went in and changed Time anyways."

"But did it work out?" Graciela countered, knowing fully well that while Savage was gone, Rip still lost his family and the Legends lost one of their own. "Time can be pushed, it-it can be changed and sometimes when it's changed there's these... _ripples_ that happen as a result."

"The aberrations _is_ a result of us wiping out the Time Masters," Sara said, slightly puzzled while Graciela was going on about this if she already knew that _they_ were aware of the consequences of their fight against Savage.

"Yeah, but you wiped Savage out of _existence_ , the Time Masters were only killed. Their accomplishments, save for Savage, remained in touch meaning that these aberrations can't all just be from wiping out Savage."

Sara considered the possibility with a degree of dread. Could they have unknowingly done something else to cause the aberrations? If they had, Rip hadn't known about it either. He would've said something. They'd gone past the stage of him keeping secrets from them. They were a _team_ , after all.

"Something else had to have happened for this many aberrations to arise," Graciela mumbled. She thought and thought until something hit her, smacked her more like it. _Barry's message._ Her heart nearly stopped, she nearly keeled over.

* * *

_"...while you and your team have been in the temporal zone, I made a choice that affected the timeline."_

* * *

Graciela's eyes widened. No, no...that...that couldn't be...

"Even if that was the case," Amaya started, pulling Graciela and Sara out of her thoughts and making Graciela lean away from the console, "It doesn't matter right now. We need to make sure history stays on track."

Nate agreed with a nod of his head. "We need to make sure we set everything back to the way it was."

Graciela ultimately agreed. "We'll need to sneak in and wing it basically."

Just as the others were going to agree, Jax returned and with a look of determination on his face. "No, it has to be me. There's a reason black people were used as spies. Because we were invisible."

"I don't want to put you in that kind of situation…" Graciela bit her lip, clearly nervous about the whole ordeal. It was the first time she'd shown any type of emotion close to concern for anyone in the team.

"If anything happens, it's on me," Jax promised her but she shook her head.

"No, it's really not. A leader is responsible for her team and even though I don't know any of you that well I am still responsible for you." And the weight of that showed on her face. "I already have Mick turning into a zombie because I was careless so I don't want to put anyone else in harm."

Jax acknowledged that, but there was no changing his mind. "That's great, but I don't like the idea of having a flag that has 20 stars on it. Do you?" The question rang true for Graciela and everyone else. It was a tough decision, that much everyone could see.

"Fine," she ultimately spat. "But I'm definitely not letting you go in there alone. That's my deal."

"Fine," Jax agreed. "Amaya and I can go." He locked eyes with the woman in question and shared a mutual nod with each other.

"Alright, Ray and Stein will stay with Mick and hopefully stop the latter from becoming a zombie," Graciela truly hoped for the best in that area, "And Nate, Sara and I will go warn the lucky Union Army that they are about to be ran by infected zombie soldiers." She stopped to process what she just said and could not believe the sentence had actually been said. There was something she never thought she'd have to say.

~0~

"You know, when we get to wherever we're going, maybe I should be the one that breaks the zombie news to General Grant," Nate finally gathered the courage to say midway through their trip through the woods. "I'm someone he'll listen to."

Graciela side-glanced the man with a rather sharp look. "I'm pretty skilled in this area, you know. I _did_ lead a rebellion, remember?"

"How could I forget?" Nate cleared his throat, wondering which one of the women would smack him first. Sara wasn't looking too happy either.

"He meant it because he's a man," the blonde filled Graciela in.

"What's that got to do with it?" Graciela wondered and earned herself double looks on both sides.

"I'm guessing they've solved all the gender inequalities by the 22nd century," Sara bobbed her head at the idea, impressed.

"Yeah, when there's a worldwide war we kind of let those issues go," Graciela confirmed and then proceeded to look at Nate. "And I'm certainly not gonna let some 19th century man make me feel less."

"I didn't mean any offence - all I'm saying is, maybe, just maybe when we get to the Union Army, you let me do the talking—" Nate stopped when he felt a cool weapon pressed against the side of his face.

"Wait where you are. Right there," a soldier ordered just as several more men appeared with threatening weapons.

Graciela and Sara raised their hands, simultaneously rolling their eyes. "Fine, you do the talking," they said at the same time, both even looking at Nate with the same expression.

Needless to say, he was not amused. Though the more time they spent with the soldiers - being forced to walk towards a campsite they presumed - he seemed to get over it on account of the reality around them.

"This is incredible. I did my sophomore thesis on the Civil War," he almost giggled at the reminder, bit the women did not.

"I smell a history lesson coming," Sara meant that as a warning for Graciela but Nate allowed no chance of cover before jumping right in.

"Fun fact: Did you know, out of the 3 million people who fought on both sides, 300 were women in drag?"

Graciela made a gesture at him while looking at Sara with an expression asking if he was really like that all the time.

Sara shrugged. "We don't know him that well yet."

The soldiers around them stopped when they reached a campsite. A taller, dark haired man dressed accordingly arrived at the scene, eyes immediately laying on the trio.

"General, we caught these two outside the northeast perimeter," one soldier informed him.

"This here is a war zone, so either you three are Confederate spies, or you...are very lost," the general said to them.

"Is there a third option you got somewhere?" Graciela asked, putting on an American accent, earning herself a deadpanning look in return.

Nate stepped in, clearing his throat as he addressed the famous man. "Actually, we're neither, General Grant."

"How do you know my name?"

"Um...I'm a fan. Actually, I'm, like, a really big fan. And you are surprisingly taller than I thought in real life—" Nate groaned when he felt Graciela's elbow dig into his side. He was getting off topic. "Um... I'm a Colonel in the Union Army. Colonel Sanders. I'm Colonel Sanders with the 31st Pennsylvania Infantry."

"Then why are you not in proper uniform, son?"

"My uniform's in the wash, sir."

"Or you are a Confederate spy."

It was no shocker that the soldiers all drew their guns on the trio of travelers.

"This was your plan?" Graciela made a face at Nate, utterly unimpressed.

"I thought I had more time," he mumbled.

Graciela rolled her eyes. Before she made her plan of fighting, she decided to employ a more docile strategy first. "Alright listen," she addressed the general, which drew more shock than she thought die to different times, "We are not Confederates, and if we're being technical, we're not a part of the Union either. But we are here to tell you that your company is in danger."

Though the general didn't straightaway believe her, he made the motion for his soldiers to lower their weapons. "In danger? Of what?"

"Zombies. And they're headed your way."

"What is a zombie?"

"They're not familiar with that word for another 70 years," Nate mumbled to Graciela who groaned in frustration.

"Okay, first thing we do when we get back to the Waverider is give me a review on history!"

"Sorry, I didn't think we would be dealing with _zombies_ so soon in my tenure on this team!" Nate returned with the same irritation.

Beside the two, Sara shook her head. "Everyone stop," she clapped her hands to get their sole attention. "Fact is, we've got zombies coming in and you're gonna need our help."

"I still don't know what you're talking about," the General reminded her.

"It's just really hard to explain. And it would be a lot easier if I just showed you," Sara started backing away, exchanging nods with Graciela. "And if I'm not back for any reason, feel free to shoot them."

" _If_ you can," Graciela smiled sweetly at the men. "I look small but I'm quite terrifying when I want to be."

~0~

"Keep me posted please," Graciela instructed Ray before ending their short briefing over the comms. She raised her head and gazed at the small campsite. It was beginning to get dark and Sara was still somewhere out there. She knew exactly what Sara was planning and, to be honest, Graciela couldn't wait to see the soldiers' reactions.

"Was that Ray?" Nate came up beside her.

"Yeah," Graciela nodded, looking none too pleased which Nate saw immediately.

"And is there another problem?"

"Mick being a fully transformed zombie qualifies as a problem right?"

"Uh...yeah, it does."

Graciela sighed and brought a hand to her forehead. "Great. And Jax called in to say he hasn't found the plans too. I want him out of that house as soon as possible but I can't do anything to help him from here."

"Amaya's with him," Nate reminded her, but it just made her even more worried.

"And that's still not a better plan. I don't trust Amaya, truth be told." Graciela walked a little from Nate, planting her hands on her hips. She looked ahead to see if there was any sign from Sara.

"Why? Because she stowed away? We know why she did it—"

"And I can't tell you how many people have done that in my time," Graciela turned around to face him. "Those who infiltrate are the deadliest. You don't know what they want nor what they will do to get it."

"Okay, with all due respect, you're kind of looking at this from your leading-a-rebellion perspective," Nate meant that as kindly as possible. He thought this could be a form of PTSD without the actual trauma (as far as he could tell). "We're not in war." Graciela tilted her head, eyes purposely flickering to their surrounding to remind him where they were. "Okay, well, we are but...what we do, it's not war."

"With all due respect, you haven't been here long either. You and I...we're probably only weeks apart from boarding the Waverider," Graciela started packing back and forth. "We're at a big disadvantage. We don't know the team's mind set, we definitely don't know the ropes of time travelling yet. We need to be extra cautious and when I look at Amaya, I'm not comfortable because she's not part of the team. Nobody knows her."

"You can't start being comfortable if you don't give her the chance," Nate's words rang some truth that Graciela didn't want to admit. It was harder than he thought.

"This isn't my permanent team, Nate. I can't just bring people into the Waverider when I'll be leaving it as soon as Rip comes back," Graciela started walking back towards the general's tent.

"Why are you leaving as soon as he comes back?" Nate asked the winning question. Graciela stopped walking but kept her back to him. "I don't understand why you think you'd have to leave. What, does this Rip guy hate you behind our backs or—"

"Something along those lines," Graciela interrupted him and wasn't at all phased by his shock. "That letter he wrote was written a long time ago when we were friends. Things happened and this is where we are. My tenure here will be short, that I promise you."

Nate was left with a thousand more questions to the answers she provided, if that even made sense.

~0~

"Alright listen up," Graciela strode into the general's tent with no care for how it looked that a woman was taking command. "Zombies are coming and they are literally going to eat your brains. So unless you want to die, you need to start listening."

General Grant eyed the woman with a degree of weariness, as if she was more crazy than honest. "And I keep asking, what in perdition's flames is a zombie?"

Instead of answering, Graciela smirked and pointed behind her just as Sara came back. The blonde ex-assassin slammed a zombie's head into the table.

"That," Graciela nodded at the disgusting head.

"I found him and 50 others just like him less than a mile outside of your camp," Sara went on to reveal. "And, yeah, I said less than a mile. Which means we don't have a lot of time."

"You ready to listen now?" Graciela asked but was pretty sure she knew the answer.

~0~

As night crept into the sky, it became a harder harder task to keep the zombie soldiers away. As soldiers continuously shot zombie soldiers, Graciela secretly moved behind the soldiers with her flashing purple eyes, helping out as much as she could without giving herself away.

One zombie may have tripped over, another may have gotten shot when they weren't going to be. Still, Graciela came to a weary stop beside Nate and Sara.

"This isn't working, there's too many of them to single out individually," she muttered to the two. "And I can't exactly fire out can I?"

"That would be bad," Sara admitted.

"But not as bad as getting killed by zombies!"

Sara also admitted that was true.

"We need more of your odd weapons," Graciela told the general, rolling her eyes when Nate very kindly whispered they were using sharpshooters. "This is like _ancient_ history to me," she reminded him.

"I can't spare the men," General Grant answered nonetheless. "We have to think about the battle that lies ahead. If we don't take Vicksburg, we won't control the Mississippi, and we need command of the river to win the war. At this rate, I'm afraid we will be out of ammunition before dawn!"

At that, none of the three travelers could argue. It was true they needed to keep the timeline intact but they also needed a quick plan to get rid of all the zonbies.

"Okay, we'll just need some back up," Sara turned to Graciela to see if they were on the same page.

"Wouldn't that be nice," Graciela said before stepping aside to get in contact with the rest of the team. Getting through to Jax and Amaya may as well have been talking to a wall because neither answered her. So, she had to move onto the ship. "Ray? Stein? First of all, I've lost contact with Jax and Amaya. Second of all, I really could use some help out here."

"Uum, Graciela, here's the thing: we'd love to come help but my vaccine didn't work, and Mick got turned into one of those things," Ray awkwardly cleared his throat. "And he's confined us to the galley. Until we can cure him, you guys are on your own."

"That's just...great." And yet, Graciela couldn't say she was all that surprised. It didn't take a lot to see that this team basically ran on good luck and quick wits. On some level, she was mildly impressed they'd made it this far. She turned back to the problem with a heavy weight on her shoulders. General Grant was relaying the current situation to Sara and Nate.

"We've only seen these things downwind from here. We can pick them off in this valley until they're all gone. I got my best men on the ridge to the West. But reports are, they are running out of ammunition."

No one saw Sara throwing a spade at a nearby wooden table. The two men, and Graciela, gave her a look. "What? Helps me think," the blonde shrugged and went on her way to continue thinking.

"Well, without ammo, we can't take all these zombies out, even with perfect shots," Nate said the obvious and felt worse about it.

Graciela looked around for a moment, forgetting the blaring noises of men's screams and gunshots, or the fact that Sara was still throwing shuriken. "I got it!" her sudden snapping fingers got the attention from her two teammates. She grabbed Nate and Sara by the arms and dragged them towards the tent while calling out to General Grant to keep firing. She didn't take long to explain the concept of her idea, but she did have to stop to make sure Nate was on board with everything. "I know what I said about your powers but since you're hellbent on using them—"

"I'll do it," Nate said, though there was a hint of fear lacing his words.

"But are you sure?" Graciela put her hands together, hoping he thought this through. "I presented the idea and I want you to understand the full consequences of it. Do you?"

Nate released a big breath and nodded. "My survival hinges on me accessing a superpower I'm not familiar with, and even though I'm a little 'uhh' about it, I'm willing to try."

Graciela couldn't decide whether to be happy her idea was a go or be ashamed for bringing Nate down a road of uncertainty concerning death. Either way, things were rolling from there.

"Those things are right outside the perimeter," General Grant's warning was nothing of a shocker. They were finally wearing down the last round of their ammunition and there seemed to be more zombies coming to them.

"On my mark," Graciela's voice rose in volume perfectly, almost as if this wasn't the first time she'd done something like this. Her eyes skimmed the perimeter and once she saw the zombies at the perfect distance, she yelled, "Kill the lights and hold your fire."

Everything went silent, leaving only the growls of the zombies to fill the air. Even though no one was meant to fire, Graciela secretly released some bits of power to help keep some soldiers safe from being bitten.

"Hey, over here! Come and get it, you ugly freaks!" Nate had ran out from a hiding spot carrying a torch. The light of the fire drew the zombies away in a snap, bit it meant Nate had to keep keen on his feet to survive. "Follow me, you big dummies! Come on! Follow the light!"

"That gentleman is either the bravest man I have ever had in my ranks, or the dumbest," General Grant admitted, leaving Graciela and Sara to shrug beside him.

"I guess we'll find out soon," Graciela swallowed hard.

A couple minutes later, they heard and saw an explosion from a distance. That was the end of the zombies, but was it the end of Nate too? Graciela couldn't wait so patiently there, some she dashed off.

"What—Grace!" Sara went after her.

"I shouldn't have asked him to! I shouldn't have asked him to!" Graciela repeated while she practically zipped through the woods.

Sara finally caught up to her and managed to round her back by the arm. "Dude! You don't just run into a fire where there were zombies! You need back up!"

"But what if he's dead?" Graciela gestured in the direction Nate would be in. "What if he couldn't access his powers—what if he died and-and—"

Sara rested her hands on Graciela's shoulders. _"Breathe,"_ she instructed. "We can't think like that. That is literally a rule here. Everyone makes their choices here. Now get it together and let's go find Nate."

Graciela followed the instructions and sucked in a dependent breath then followed Sara. She couldn't afford to lose it like that ever again, or at least until she was done leading teams. Together, they gathered some men with General Grant and scoured the area for Nate. They followed the trail they knew the explosion was until they found a whole ring of dead zombies.

"You see your man anywhere?" Grant allowed the women to move around a bit.

"Just dead zombies," Graciela whispered.

"What the?" they heard one soldier cock his gun. Everyone turned to see the soldier aiming his gun at a spot of zombies that seemed to be moving.

"Wait, hold your fire!" Sara shouted and watched with big eyes as Nate burst from the pile of zombies, drenched in some type of goo.

The man seemed close to throwing up as he looked down at himself. "I...am covered in zombie guts."

Graciela laughed and rushed over, though she did keep her hands to herself in the end. "But you're alive!"

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Nate started to gag on the spot.

~0~

Thankfully, everyone else in the team seemed to be in good survival mode. Graciela was relieved to see Jax and Amaya returned safely, along with others who needed their help, and Ray and Stein were successful in their endeavor to cure Mick. Everything was...good. And yet, Graciela didn't feel it 100%.

"Miss Haynez?" General Grant walked up to the woman, looking pretty much grateful. They'd managed to save some soldiers on both sides so that there were no more zombies interfering in their war.

Graciela put on a political smile. "You'll be safe now, in what fits anyways. Sorry about the war…"

"And yet you seem no so surprised by the environment," his observation startled Graciela for a second. "Your man Colonel Sanders, he, uh... tells me you're his captain."

"I am?" Graciela repeated with honest surprise. She was sure no one in the team saw her yet as a true captain and she wasn't particularly interested in being one for them either. The title never sat well with her.

"In any case, he mentioned something about you having regrets about putting men in harm's way."

"And yet it's all I seem to do," Graciela admitted with ease. "I used to have another team and...I lost more than I can count. I don't think that's something I can ever get used to."

"You know, by the time I had taken over this division, there had already been three other generals in place before me. They'd all stepped down and given up. But I believe in my men. And I believe in the good that we're doing. Do you? Do you believe in your mission, Captain Haynez?"

"I did, but then...my mission changed. Now I'm doing it out of obligation."

"Are you, though?"

Graciela pursed her lips together and bowed her head. That was the question, wasn't it?

And whether or not she wanted to say it out loud...the answer was pretty clear.

~ 0 ~

Later on in the evening, Graciela found herself in the hatch room again. She listened to Barry Allen's message over and over, pausing it every now and then to make sure she was hearing right.

_"So you need to know that, while you and your team have been in the temporal zone, I made a choice that affected the timeline. As you know, whenever you alter the past, those changes affect the present and get compounded in the future."_

Graciela paused the message again. Her fingers drummed over her leg while her mind worked to fill the gaps of her theories.

Could these ripples be a result of what Barry did? _Oh God, Rip is going to kill me._ More than that, _he_ may be gone because of this new timeline.

Even without all the answers, she knew she was _way_ out of her element here.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Dun, dun, _duuuun_! I always theorized that Barry changing the timeline (in s3) left more than just Thawne for the Legends to deal with. So in this world, his actions will not only screw his team but he's also screw this OC as well :))

Graciela is OC #2 out of 3 total Arrowverse OCs. The first one being OC Belén Palayta from my Flash fic on my profile and the third being Anais Allen-Mjorkland from my Supergirl fic that are all under my profile! Feel free to check them out!

As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"

**Author's Note:**

> And that's the introduction of Graciela! She's a force to be reckoned with (as seen in her debut chapter in my Flash fic, Rise Up (ch.9 if you're interested in seeing her first appearance). She's kind of on-the-fence about the Legends, a natural thing considering who they are xD but she'll eventually warm up to them and vice versa. She's yet to fully reveal herself to the team and that'll be something coming up in the next chapter!
> 
> Graciela is OC #2 out of 3 total Arrowverse OCs. The first one being OC Belén Palayta from my Flash fic on my profile and the third being an OC for a Supergirl fic (OCxWinn to be exact) that'll be up soon! Feel free to check them out!
> 
> P.S I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"


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